A New Start
by ChastityJean
Summary: Paul has imprinted on a girl that doesn't date. Also, she's Jacob's sister. He just can't win. A humorous tale of imprinting and how Rachel and Paul bring their lives together. Rated M for future lemons
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story will switch between Rachel's and Paul's POV. Rachel is up first. Not much angst to come here, just a werewolf and his imprint trying to bring their lives together. Reviews are always appreciated. The current plan is to post every Thursday.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but if I did, there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

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><p>Rachel:<p>

I pulled my laundry basket from the trunk of my car and slammed it shut. I really didn't want to be here, but I wanted to be at school even less. I couldn't believe that I had allowed myself to be so trusting of someone who obviously didn't deserve it. I felt betrayed, hurt, and above all stupid for not seeing this coming. That's what I get for trying to be an optimist.

I lugged my basket to the front door and took a deep breath to calm myself before inserting my key in the lock. I knew that my dad and Jake were expecting me, but they weren't expecting me in the shape I was in. I had managed to keep my emotions in check when I called to say I was coming home, but I had spent more than half of the eight hour drive crying - at one point I had to pull over because the tears were clouding my vision. The rest of the time, I was on the phone with Becca. She was trying to assure me that things were going to be fine, but I wasn't sure how. Everything was different now. I was different, broken.

After you've lost someone close to you, it's hard to form new attachments. I was always afraid I was going to lose someone else, so I figured if I didn't get close to anyone, it wouldn't hurt as bad when something happened. Against all common sense, I ignored this feeling and got close to someone. And I was pretty sure I'd never be able to trust anyone again.

There was only one thing I was grateful for. At least now I had made my decision about grad school. There was no way in hell I was going back to that place for a minute longer than I had to. Unfortunately, I hadn't quite figured out what I was going to do when I didn't go back in September. Maybe I could think about that this weekend too.

I pushed the door open and took in the familiar surroundings. There was a reason I stayed at school close to year round, only coming home for Christmas break when they kicked us out of the dorms. Memories of my childhood rushed past me as I set my basket on the coffee table. I closed my eyes and tried to push them away. I didn't need any of that added on right now; I was at my emotional breaking point.

"Dad?" I called after shutting the door. "Jake?" No answer. I was surprised to find the house empty. They knew I was coming home. Usually they would be waiting at the door with smiles and all kinds of bribes to keep me at home longer. When I came home for Christmas my dad actually offered to help me with my car payments if I came home more often. That was hard to turn down.

I was happy to have the house empty. I would have some time alone to collect myself. I hated crying, especially in front of other people, so any progress made toward reining it in was good.

I walked back through the kitchen to the mud room that held the ancient washer and dryer. I they think came off of the assembly line some time before World War II. Seriously. I started the washer and threw some detergent in before walking back to the living room to grab my basket. I dumped it into the machine and realized I wasn't going to fill it on my own. I looked around the room to see if there were any of my dad's or Jake's clothes to toss in, but there was nothing. I took my basket to the bathroom, knowing the pile of dirty clothes on the floor was probably mountainous. I was not disappointed. I filled my bin and made my way back to the laundry room, leaving twice as much as I took. I definitely did not miss living with boys. Although from the way things had been going recently, it appeared I wasn't very good at living with girls either.

I dumped the second load into the machine, noticing that it seemed to consist almost completely of cutoff shorts. Didn't Jake own anything else? I sighed and closed the lid, allowing the machine to start agitating. Becca and I had really failed when it came to teaching him how to dress to impress (or least how to dress to keep from embarrassing his family with his fashion sense straight from the 80s).

I went back to the living room and flopped on the couch. I turned on the TV and started flipping through channels, but since my dad was too cheap to get cable there was nothing on. I sighed and turned it off again. I laid back and pulled a blanket from the back of the couch to cover me. I put my arm over my eyes and tried not to think.

I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I apparently I had. I was rudely awakened when Jake jumped on top of me, knocking the wind out of me.

"Hey Rach!" he said with enthusiasm. I gasped for air as he hugged me tightly.

"Jake! Air!" I yelled as loudly as I could with no oxygen in my lungs.

"Oh sorry," he said, backing off. He stood up and his head almost touched the ceiling. My dad told me he had a growth spurt but I didn't think he'd grown this much. I stared with my mouth open, and he chuckled, "I know I'm pretty to look at, but you're my big sister. That'd be creepy."

I laughed out loud. "Oh Jakie, you think you're funny. That's so cute," I said sarcastically, pinching his cheek. "No, seriously, how much have you grown since Christmas? You're huge!"

"Again with the creepiness. Stop looking at me like an object!" he said laughing.

"Since when do you have such a dirty mind?"

"Since I had my growth spurt," he laughed.

I smirked as I sat up to make room for him on the couch next to me. He threw himself down with enough force that it rocked back on legs that seemed to be already seriously broken.

"So, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked, putting his arm around my shoulders and propping his feet up on the table.

"I just wanted to come home," I replied, hoping that would be explanation enough.

Obviously it wasn't. "And why did you want to come home?"

"I had a bad day at school and I needed to clear my head. It's a long weekend so I don't have to be back until Monday night," I said, being as vague as possible. Jake opened his mouth to start again but I cut him off. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Fine," he pouted.

"So, Dad tells me there's a girl that you like. Bella Swan right? What's going on with that?" I asked, changing the subject.

Jake's face went slack and his expression was horrified. Finally he composed himself enough to answer, "She got married about 2 weeks ago."

I was shocked. "What?"

"Her ex-boyfriend came back to town in the spring and they got back together. And they just got married so I'll probably never see her again."

Why didn't anyone tell me? My poor little brother. "Oh, Jake. I'm sorry." I put my arms around his waist (they barely made it) and hugged him.

"I'll be ok," he said but I could tell he was lying. I didn't want to force the issue though. He would talk about it when he was ready. "So are you coming to the bonfire tonight?" he asked, changing the subject yet again.

"Yeah, Dad mentioned something about that. I don't know Jake. Why would I want to hang out with a bunch of kids that are all younger than me?"

"First of all, they aren't all younger than you. Sam, Emily, and Leah are your age. And secondly, you'll go because you want to spend quality time with your favorite brother, and he's going to be over there." He gave me his best pouty face. He knew I couldn't say no to that face. In fact I was pretty sure he was counting on it.

I smiled as I agreed. "Fine, but I'm not staying late. I'm really tired from driving all day." It would do me good to be around different people. I needed a fresh perspective if I was going to work through these new issues.

"Sure, sure. It's so tiring to sit in the same position and move a fraction of an inch every ten minutes. How do you find the stamina?" I hid my smile to keep him from know that I found his comment amusing. When did he become so sarcastic? He would never let me forget it if I told him he was funny.

"What time is this get-together tonight?" I asked.

"Actually, everyone went over about an hour ago. They're waiting for us now." He paused for a split second to read my expression, seeing that I wasn't angry about the short notice. "Ok, let's go!"

He jumped up off the couch, pulling me with him. I flew through the air and landed halfway across the room. "Geez, throw me out the window why don't you?" I scolded.

"Sorry sis," he replied. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength." He laughed to himself like I was missing something. I shrugged it off, not in the mood to put forth the effort to find out what was so funny.

He led me out the front door and closed it behind us. He started walking towards the beach taking long strides that I could barely keep up with. "Why are you running?" I asked, hoping to slow him down.

"We need to hurry up or all the food will be gone."

"I'm not that hungry," I lied. I was, in fact, starving but my desire for bonfire hotdogs was non-existent. I would wait until we got home and eat the macaroni and cheese I packed for myself (since Dad and Jake's opinion of a full pantry was Doritos and tomato soup – sometimes together).

"Don't worry, there will be enough food for you no matter what. You'll only eat like 2 hotdogs. No one would keep food from you. Me on the other hand," he paused to chuckle, "Paul and Leah are actively working to see me starve to death."

I didn't really understand what he meant, but I laughed along with him at the thought of Leah doing anything the vicious. She was always so nice when we were in high school, I doubted she was so much different now, Sam or no Sam. I'd heard the details of their breakup were scandalous, but no one would tell me exactly what they were. Maybe I'd get some more information tonight.

He turned a corner, and the fire came into view. There was a large group of people milling around and yelling things back and forth across the fire. As we approached the group someone yelled, "Jacob's here!" and suddenly there was a hotdog flying through the air. Jake put up his left hand and caught it easily. "Thanks Seth," he said, raising a hand in appreciation. He offered it to me and when I shook my head he shoved it all in his mouth at once.

While he was still chewing he pointed to me and said, "Hey, guys." I heard a growl from the group, "And Leah – you all remember my sister Rachel."

A few of them said hi to me, but I had no idea who they were. Even if it had been light out I wouldn't have recognized most of these faces.

I saw my dad sitting close by and walked over to kiss him on the cheek. "How was your drive?" he asked.

"Long and boring as usual," I said.

"Well, I'm glad you're home. I miss having you around."

I sighed. "It's just for the weekend, Dad."

He glanced across the fire and said with a smile, "We'll see about that." Apparently he had thought of a new bribe to keep me home. I was curious to hear what it was. It wouldn't make a difference, but I liked it when my dad got creative. It always made me feel loved.

Suddenly I was being lifted in the air in a huge hug.

"What the hell?" I yelled, hoping whoever was attacking me would take the hint and put me down.

"Sorry, Rach," my attacker replied, "I just haven't seen you in forever." I looked into his face and studied his features. He looked so familiar but I couldn't quite place him. Then it hit me.

"Embry?" I asked. He nodded. "Little Embry Call who used to play Barbie's with Becca and me whenever you came over to play with Jake? Wow, you had a growth spurt too." He looked uncomfortable, and I realized I probably shouldn't have brought up his previous affinity for playing with girly toys. He shook it off easily.

"Yeah it's true, I used to love to send Skipper off to the beach, but at least I grew out of it. Hey Quil," he yelled across the fire. "When was the last time you played Barbie's?"

I saw Jake's other best friend, Quil, sigh before he answered, "Yesterday." I laughed with everyone else, though they seemed to find it less confusing than I did. Apparently I had entered a group with a lot of inside jokes. It was annoying to be on the outside when no one was offering explanations, and I didn't want to be the nosy one that asked, so I figured my night was doomed to confusion and bewilderment.

As I laughed, I looked from Quil to another face on the other side of the fire. It was a face that I recognized but, yet again, couldn't put a name to. I knew I had seen him around before but I couldn't place exactly where. He was staring at me with a strange expression and it seemed like he was trying to remember how he knew me too. He started walking to me, never taking his eyes from mine. When he reached me I stuck out my hand to shake his.

"Hi, I'm Rachel," I said. "I'm really sorry. I know that I know you from somewhere, but I can't remember your name."

He kept staring into my eyes as he took my hand in his. He smiled wide and answered enthusiastically. "Paul. My name is Paul."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for reading. We get our first peek of Paul POV in this chapter, but Rachel is up first.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but if I did, there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

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><p>Rachel:<p>

I smiled. Paul was cute. That was usually the beginning of the end for me when it came to my love life. It was in my experience that two kinds of guys were attracted to me:

1. Assholes that are only after one thing. They lay the charm on thick and are very self-assured, your basic 'anything with legs' attitude. When I turn them down they decide that I am a bitch and not worth their efforts anymore. They are the ones that are easy to get rid of.

2. Losers who rarely have a girl return affections but don't let that deter them from wearing their hearts on their sleeves. When I turn them down they take it as an invitation to try harder.

Basically, I attracted the guys who were willing to take anything and everything that they could get. And the normal ones, the ones I was attracted to, didn't fall into either group and tended to avoid me like the plague. It was not the situation I would have picked, but it was the one I had to deal with. So I dealt with it in the easiest way possible. I decided a long time ago that I was just giving up. I wasn't interested in any of the guys who were interested in me, and I was more than self-sufficient enough that I did not have to worry about needing a man in my life. With those two things cleared up, it was easy for me to make my decision. I didn't need a man, and I worked hard not to want one. And it had been working out very well.

I had a pretty good idea which group Paul fit into just from watching the way others reacted to him. He obviously thought very highly of himself. I quickly pegged him for Group 1, which was easier to deal with. I would turn him down, firmly but politely and he would move on to someone else. But that didn't mean I had to be nasty.

"Hi Paul," I said. "Where do I know you from?"

He smiled like he was going to enjoy giving the coming answer. "I was a year behind you in school."

"Oh, you went to QTS?" I really couldn't place him, and the school was small enough that I should still remember everyone, whether it had been 4 years or not. "Why don't I recognize you?"

He smiled that same proud smile. "I had a bit of a growth spurt last year. I grew 4 inches and put on 30 pounds of muscle." I could see in his eyes he was resisting the urge to flex. I didn't mean to but I laughed out loud. He looked confused, wondering what he had said that was funny. I tried cover as best I could. I didn't want him thinking I found him funny. That would just make it that much harder to let him down easy.

"Sorry, you just reminded me of a friend from school. He did something really funny the other day that I would explain, but it's a long story and you probably had to be there." I giggled again hoping I had sold the story.

Apparently I had. "Oh, is he your boyfriend?" Paul asked me.

I laughed slightly. The imaginary guy I had just made up in my mind was about as far from boyfriend material as possible and I couldn't turn him into Jake Gyllenhaal in my head quickly enough to reverse my opinion. "No, definitely not." Then for some reason I felt compelled to add, "I don't have a boyfriend."

He smirked victoriously. He was smug, liking the fact that I didn't have a boyfriend, thinking it meant the road was clear for him. Oh, how I begged to differ. My trust issues were downed trees in the road, while a current boyfriend would just be a speed bump.

"Are you hungry?" he asked me. At least he was pretending to be considerate. As long as he kept this up, I couldn't be mean to him.

"Actually I'm starving, but I don't eat hotdogs," I replied. It was kind of disconcerting that I felt comfortable around him, but hopefully he would understand and not force me to eat one.

I was wrong. "That's just because you've never had a secret Quileute hotdog before. Hold on a second." He grabbed a stick from the ground (disgusting) and pulled a hotdog from a cooler a few feet away. I started protesting but decided my interest in saving my stomach could be misconstrued as interest in him so I kept my mouth shut. He heated the hotdog in the fire and pulled it out after it had started flaming. Great, not only was he going to make me eat a hotdog, he was making me eat charcoal too. He blew out the flame and put it into a bun, handing it to me. I eyed it nervously, remembering all the horrible cookouts we had as children, where Dad's opinion of a cooked hotdog was one that wasn't frozen anymore. I shuddered at the thought.

"Just try it," he requested.

That strange feeling surfaced again, that comfortable feeling. I didn't like that feeling but I took a bite of the hotdog anyway. It was delicious. "Mmm. Wow, how did you do that?"

"An old family secret."

"And you're not going to tell me what it is?" I asked sweetly, hoping to get this information out of him before I sent him packing.

"I might if you go on a walk with me," he suggested. I wasn't sure I wanted to be alone with him but as long as we didn't get too far from the group Jake would come to my aid if I needed him. And Jake was a lot bigger than Paul.

"Ok," I replied, taking another bite of hotdog. It was so good I finished it before we were even to the tree line.

We walked a few yards into the woods before Paul sat on a log that had fallen sideways, motioning for me to sit next to him. I obliged and stared up at the stars. After a few minutes Paul interrupted my admiration of the sky with a question I knew would lead to topics I had no desire to discuss.

"Why haven't you been around?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I've been away at school."

He leaned closer to me, "You don't get breaks?"

"I do, but that's when I get the most hours at work, so I just stay at school." Technically I wasn't lying, I just wasn't telling the whole truth.

"Oh," he replied, a hint of sadness in his voice. Was he sad that I never came home or that I had to work when I should be having fun? Whichever it was, I found it kind of creepy. I barely knew this kid. "Where do you go to school?" he asked.

"Wazzu."

"Shit, that's forever away!" he reacted immediately. Then he composed himself and cleared his throat, looking for a way to explain his outburst. "That's what, 8 hours away?" I nodded. "How can you stand to be so far from home?"

"Well, they're the ones that gave me a scholarship," I said. I knew from his expression that he wanted more information, and I was horrified with myself that I wanted to give it to him. "It was hard at first but after awhile it's not any different from going to school in Seattle except it takes longer to drive home. I wouldn't come home any more often even if I went to school in Forks. It's just too hard." Dammit, I said too much. I didn't like how easy it was to talk to him. I didn't like people I barely knew knowing all of my business.

"What's too hard?" he pried.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. It's not something I like to talk about." I stood up and turned to leave when he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Is it about your mom?" he asked, with what sounded like compassion but could very well have been feigned interest.

I spun to face him and met his eyes with a glare. "How do you know about that?"

"Jacob and I are friends, and I know he has a hard time with it. I just figured that you probably do too." He tried to take my hand in his but I pulled it back. The hurt was evident on his face, and I knew I owed him an explanation.

"I'm sorry. It's just not something that I talk about. Ever." I emphasized the last word so he would understand the topic was off-limits. He nodded slightly but there was something in his eyes that told me he was not going to let this go.

"It's ok, we should probably be heading back anyway," he said with disappointment. So he was the desperate type. I sighed, knowing that they were harder to shake off than the ones who were full of themselves. I didn't want to deal with this.

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><p>Paul:<p>

This was not good. This was so not good. I had just imprinted on Jacob's sister right in front of him. I panicked thinking everyone had noticed, but it turns out that it takes a lot for the pack to notice something when there was food nearby. I wasn't sure what to do. I knew I couldn't keep staring at her across the fire, that would just force her to ask Jacob who I was and he would tear me limb from limb if he knew what had just happened. I had to act fast, get her on my side before her brother decided to murder me.

I hadn't been victim to imprinting paranoia like some of my brothers. One of them thought a girl was cute and followed her around for a week before he realized she wasn't his imprint because she was so annoying he wanted to stab himself just being in her presence (*cough* Embry *cough*). Thankfully that had never happened to me. Deep down I always had a feeling that if and when I imprinted I would just know. And I had been right. There was no denying that this feeling was different from any other I had ever experienced.

I walked over to her and she held her hand out to me, introducing herself. Did she really not know who I was? I was discouraged, knowing that if she didn't remember me it would take more than the approximately three minutes that I had to get her to like me enough to keep me alive.

When she said she recognized me a smile spread across my face. I could work with that. I introduced myself, probably more enthusiastically that I should have but she was my imprint, did it really matter?

She smiled back at me and I just about fell to the ground. It couldn't be this easy could it? Was she in love with me already? I knew I had no experience with this but maybe, just maybe, she could feel this on her end too. That was probably too much to hope for.

"Why don't I recognize you?" she asked me. I didn't mind the fact that turning into a wolf had changed me physically. In fact I enjoyed the four inches added onto my height and the 30 pounds of muscle that made me strong enough to uproot a tree. I didn't give Rachel all of this information though. That would be a little much for her at first. I'd save my love for my 6-pack for the eventual imprinting conversation.

While I was thinking about this she laughed out loud. Did I say something funny? Did something funny happen behind me? I was confused.

When she explained I was even more confused since she was obviously lying. She told me that I reminded her of a friend at school, which I doubted. But she had mentioned another guy, and I suddenly I had to know whether she had a boyfriend or not. I was in love with her already but if she had a boyfriend it would be easier to accept knowing her as a friend, rather than knowing her biblically, if I found out sooner rather than later. An image of her in less than sufficient clothing shot through my mind but I had to stuff if down to ask my question. "Is he your boyfriend?"

She laughed again, and this time I didn't think she was lying. "No, definitely not. I don't have a boyfriend."

YES! Thank god, I knew the friend thing would never have worked. Well, I would have made it work, but I wouldn't have liked it. I was already too in love with her to ever accept anything less than everything. I stopped myself from smiling widely knowing she would probably find that creepy, and I didn't want her first impression of me to be a creeper, since I was pretty sure that's what Jacob was going to tell her as soon as he found out. I couldn't keep my face completely stoic though and I felt a smirk sneak up on my lips.

I didn't know what to say next. I stood there trying to think of something witty to say that would make her fall in love with me immediately. I couldn't come up with anything that profound so I tried the next best thing, helping her achieve a full stomach. "Are you hungry?" I asked her.

Her response floored me. She was hungry but she didn't eat hotdogs. I couldn't remember a time when I was hungry and I wasn't shoving every food-product in the state in my mouth. Sometimes, not gonna lie, I may have encountered a napkin, bun wrapper, or other such item and was too hungry to remove it. But paper is fiber and fiber is good for you right? Though I'm not really sure I could justify the rock that was attached to the grilled cheese sandwich Jacob threw onto the beach last week.

I couldn't let her go hungry, no matter her resolve. And, not too sound too full of myself, but I do cook a mean hotdog on a stick. Fire cooked hotdogs came in a close second to deep fried hotdogs in my book but hauling a deep fryer out here would be ridiculous (not to mention extremely hazardous if anyone got mad at each other). After I told her she was eating I grabbed a stick from the ground. She made a face which I'm sure meant that she had no desire to eat anything that was at one point attached to a dirt covered stick. Little did she know that the dirt only made it better. I handed her finished dog to her. She eyed it nervously like it was going to attack her.

I chuckled, "Just try it." She took a bite and closed her eyes as she chewed. A small moan escaped her lips and for the second time in five minutes I almost collapsed onto the ground. I had made her do that. I could go the rest of my life and never be happier than I was in this moment. I had made Rachel happy.

Now she was pumping me for information. How had I made such an amazing hotdog? I hated to break it to her but all I did was hold the stick in the fire. I couldn't let her know that I was a hotdog hack however. "Old family secret." Now she was really turning on the charm trying to get it out of me. I wasn't about to let it go though. I would let her think there was some 'Great Quileute Hotdog Cooking Secret' that she didn't know about and if she went on a walk with me I would tell her the secret. I was enjoying this too much.

When I asked her to go for a walk, she considered it longer than necessary. So long that I was afraid that she was going to say no. As we walked she finished the hotdog, and I put my hand out, trying to grab hers but she seemed completely oblivious. I could deal with rejection as long as it wasn't conscious rejection.

We made our way to a fallen tree a short ways into the woods, and I tapped the space next to me wishing she would join me. She sat and stared up at the sky. I stared at her. When I was finished memorizing her face my curiosity got to me. "Why haven't you been around?"

She tried to play it off, saying she'd been away at school but I knew better. She didn't come home even when she could, and I had an idea why, but I couldn't bring it up straight away. She would wonder how I knew so much. I didn't want to have to bring up the fact that her brother and I were connected mentally when we were both werewolves. That may have shocked her a little bit.

I asked about her breaks and she gave me a lame answer about working at school, but I knew that wasn't the whole story. I didn't like that she didn't feel she could be completely truthful with me. The only response I could manage was, "Oh." Maybe I could go visit her during her next break, so she wouldn't be there all by herself while she was avoiding home. I then realized that I had no idea where she went to school, so I asked her.

When she answered my heart sank. Washington State was on the complete other side of the state. In fact, I was pretty sure you couldn't be any farther away and still be in the state of Washington. I didn't think I could stand to be so far away from her. I tried to hide my shock but not fast enough. "Shit, that's forever away!" escaped my lips.

I tried to compose myself, to ask the real question on my mind. "That's what, 8 hours away?" When she nodded I started calculating in my head. Eight hours of driving after my shift on Thursday night would put me at Wazzu at about 4pm on Friday afternoon. If I left just in time to get back for my shift on Sunday night, that would be 2pm on Sunday afternoon. That left me with the possibility of 46 hours with Rachel. I realized at that moment that I really shouldn't be planning this already. I was probably coming off really creepy.

I had an idea of the answer to my next question, but I wanted to hear it from her. "How can you stand to be so far from home?" She gave me some bullshit line about a scholarship, but I knew full well that she could have gone to any school she wanted. She picked the one that was the farthest away. She was determined to stay away from La Push.

That was evidenced fully by the continuation of her answer. "It was hard at first, but after awhile it's not any different from going to school in Seattle except it takes longer to drive home. I wouldn't come home any more often even if I went to school in Forks. It's just too hard."

And there it was. I had been suspecting it and now it was confirmed. I had to make sure, though. "What's too hard?"

I could see her shut down before my eyes. Apparently it was something she didn't talk about. She got up to leave but I couldn't let her go yet. I regretted bringing it up in the first place, but now that it was out there we had to finish it.

I stood from my seat and put a hand on her shoulder. Touching her was like being hit my lightning. My entire body was electrified as I whispered in her ear, "Is it about your mom?"

She turned around and glared at me. Obviously she'd meant it when she said she didn't talk about it. "How do you know about that?"

I only stretched the truth a little when I explained that I'd heard it from Jacob. I'd said were friends, which wasn't exactly the case. We were completely antagonistic to each other, and now after I'd imprinted on his sister I was positive we would be even more so.

I tried to take her hand to show that I was sorry for bringing it up, but she pulled it back, uncomfortable with the contact. I was saddened, wishing I could touch her again. That electric feeling was addictive.

She started apologizing and stressed that talking about her mom was not allowed. I complied with her request but knew that someday we would have this conversation. She was my imprint, and I would wait for her to be ready.

"It's ok, we should probably be heading back anyway," I said. I was pretty sure that I had convinced her that I was a worthwhile human being, at least enough that she would intervene if her brother decided an execution was in order. Now it was time to face Jacob.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has this story on alert. Glad you're giving this story a shot!**

**Get ready for some overprotective Jacob :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but if I did, there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

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><p>Rachel<p>

We walked back into the clearing, Paul leading the way. As soon as I was visible Jake bombarded me. "Where have you been?" he asked angrily. I did not appreciate his attitude. He was being obnoxious.

"I was just talking to Paul. What's it to you?" I countered, daring him to continue. Jake was glaring at Paul, and Paul looked like he was about to lash out at him. I could sort of see Paul's point. Jake had no business telling me what I was and was not allowed to do.

Paul's interjection surprised me. "I would never hurt her." I never thought he would, but for some reason Jake did. Now I was kind of nervous. Was Paul dangerous? Was there a reason I shouldn't be in the woods with him? He seemed harmless enough, but it was always the harmless looking ones who made their victims into lampshades. However I didn't think Jake would be friends with a serial killer, no matter how few options there were in La Push.

I was about to ask what was going on, but Jake threw his hands up in the air. "Are you kidding me?" he asked incredulously, his eyes wide.

Now I was really confused. It appeared that Paul had told Jake something in his statement about never hurting me. What could that possibly tell Jake other than he liked me? I knew Jake was overprotective, but I didn't think he would be this crazy about it. It was kind of pissing me off.

Paul raised his eyebrows and looked towards the trees, asking Jake to meet him in the woods. Jake stalked off towards the trees and shouted, "Phase!" before he disappeared from sight.

I didn't know what that meant, all I knew was I had no intention of letting them settle this by themselves. They looked like they were about to kill each other. Paul turned to leave but I caught his arm.

"What's going on?" I asked him urgently.

His answer was so fast I barely caught it all. "Jacob and I are just having a difference of opinion that we would prefer not to work out in front of the whole group. We'll be right back."

I knew it. They were going to brawl if I didn't step in. "Are you going to fight?" I asked, making my fears known.

He took longer to answer than he should have. "No, we're just going to talk."

"I don't believe you," I told him. In fact, I thought he was completely full of shit. I made a quick decision. "I'm going with you."

I was prepared for his response, though not quite for its vigor. "No you're not! Under no circumstances are you coming!" he yelled. I didn't understand why I couldn't be there if it kept them safe.

"Why?" I asked. Why were they so intent on fighting? Jake never used to fight, and now all of the sudden that's all he seemed to talk about. He had really changed. It was like I didn't know him at all anymore.

Finally Paul answered. "Because we might get in a fight, and I don't want you getting hurt, ok?" As least he was finally being honest. It didn't change the fact that I could prevent the fight completely if I was there.

I let him know that. "Well if I come with you then you won't get in a fight at all."

He appeared to be getting angry at me. It really disturbed me that he was so intent on fighting my brother. I knew that Jake was bigger, but Paul looked way more intense right now. I started worrying for Jake's safety. "Fine!" he finally said. "But I'm not slowing down for you. Keep up if you can."

As soon as he finished that sentence he was sprinting off into the woods as fast as he could. Obviously he didn't know that I was on the club track team at school. I don't want to brag, but I was pretty fast. Not fast enough to be on the actual track team but fast enough to humiliate just about everyone else in the school. I was keeping up, and he looked shocked.

"Jacob, Rachel followed me in!" he yelled. I guess that would keep Jake from attacking him by surprise hopefully.

Jake stepped from behind a tree a few seconds later and Paul stopped running a safe distance away. I ran past Paul and stopped between the two of them. They were staring murderously at each other, and I knew I had to be the one to break the silence.

"What the hell is going on here?" I demanded. I looked back and forth between the two, and Jake was the one to answer first, though it wasn't quite as mature as I'd hoped.

"Yeah, Paul why don't you tell her?" I almost forgot he was still just sixteen. He was still a bratty teenager. I sighed as I turned to Paul to await his explanation.

"Your brother seems to think I shouldn't be around you." Yeah, I'd already gathered that. Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Why?"

"Because I have a temper," he started slowly. Then he quickly blurted, "Not that I would ever do anything to hurt you."

So he had a temper, but he wouldn't hurt me? Did that mean he would hurt someone else? Now I wasn't so sure that he wasn't a psychopath.

Jake wasn't convinced either. "You don't know that," he snarled.

I didn't like the way he was always butting in. "Would you let him talk please?" I snapped.

I turn back to Paul, hoping he would give me a straight answer. "Since I know Jake can't be mature about this I want you to tell me. Why does he think you can't control your temper around me?"

He looked like this was a question he really didn't want to answer, so I was glad I asked it.

"Because I never used to be able to control my temper around anyone. I used to explode when someone looked at me the wrong way."

Jacob snickered like he thought this was funny. Why was he torturing someone who was supposed to be his friend? Paul gave him a dirty look, so I knew that Jake really was out of line.

"Used to?" Jake asked finally. "You 'exploded' yesterday." I didn't like the way he emphasized exploding. It was like Paul was a bomb or something. It was making me nervous again. Paul took his eyes off me and stared at Jake.

"That was before." Before what? Before me? Because that would be really creepy. He couldn't be saying that I was the one responsible for his lack of angry outbursts tonight. I'd just met him for Christ sakes.

Thankfully, I didn't have to ask. Jake did for me. "And why should I believe you're any different now?" Good question. He needed to prove his temper was better before I decided he was a creeper.

Paul responded immediately, more irritated than I'd seen him. Yet, he seemed to be in control. "I'm pretty fucking pissed right now, but I'm still here. I'm not running through the woods, howling at the moon."

What the hell was going on? Jake and Paul exchanged another silent look, and I realized that I had absolutely no idea what was going on here. Why would Paul's temper be such a big deal today rather than any other day? And why did it all seem to revolve around me? This was making me uncomfortable.

Jake nodded at Paul and started walking away, but not before stopping to whisper something in Paul's ear. Paul shot him a dirty look as he walked away, and I decided I didn't want to know what was said.

Once Jake was out of sight, Paul looked at me again, and I felt compelled to give him my thoughts on the situation. Unfortunately all I could come up with was, "That was, umm . . . interesting." Not my best, but I wasn't an English major. He stared at me for a few seconds, and I got that comfortable feeling again.

"Ready to head back?" I asked him. He nodded and turned to leave, going faster than I was. I caught his hand in an attempt to slow him down, and he intertwined his fingers with mine. Though I wasn't a big fan of dating, or romance in general, I would never mind holding hands with someone. It was the simplest form of affection, and to me it meant the most. I liked holding hands with Paul.

Oh, I had to stop this now.

We returned to the bonfire, and he led me to a log where I sat down. When he didn't immediately join me, I motioned for him to sit as well, but he looked like he had other things on his mind. This was actually a good thing; he had other things on his mind. That meant that when I let him down easy he could move on to the other person he was already thinking about. I felt better about the whole situation.

"Sorry, but I've got to get home. Gotta work early tomorrow morning." I guess that's as good an excuse as any.

I released his hand and smiled at him. "Ok, I guess I'll see you around."

He looked like he was about to leave when he blurted, "Do you want to go to dinner tomorrow night?"

I had to make sure of his intentions. "Like a date?" I asked.

"Well, yeah I guess so." That reply didn't have me falling all over myself to say yes, but the look in his eyes made it harder to say no.

Oh, no. I didn't want to have to deal with this now. Usually guys weren't so over-excited to ask me out, so I had a little while to come up with a good excuse that would keep them away. Most of the time I just made up a boyfriend, but stupid me, I already told him I didn't have one.

I took a deep breath and decided to tell him the truth. "I'm really sorry Paul, but I don't date."

His smile faded. "Oh," he breathed. Then he really thought about what I said. "Wait . . . what?" Apparently he wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Why was my life so difficult?

* * *

><p>Paul<p>

I stepped tentatively into the clearing, Rachel following behind me. I scanned the group immediately and made eye contact with Jacob. He looked pissed. He stormed over to us and got in Rachel's face, demanding to know where we had been.

He was being a real dick, and I wanted to rip his head off right there, but I controlled myself. She looked just as annoyed as I was. She told him, in no uncertain terms, that it was none of his business where she had been, and I tossed a smirk in his direction.

Jacob glared at me, and I could tell he was thinking about my temper. That pissed me off even more. I started shaking and knew that if I didn't get myself together soon, I was going to phase right there, and that would not be good for so many reasons. "I would never hurt her," I growled at him.

His eyes widened at first then narrowed until they were barely slits. He knew. He threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Are you kidding me?" Rachel looked confused, and I silently prayed that this would not be the way that she found out. I looked at Jacob and raised my eyebrows, looking towards the woods. All dreams of self-preservation were thrown out the window in an effort to keep this from her.

He stalked off towards the trees and shouted, "Phase!"

I was about to follow when Rachel caught my arm. Electricity shot through me as she asked what was going on.

I knew I didn't have long before Jacob came back and caused a scene, so I answered quickly - and vaguely.

"Are you going to fight?" she asked, eyes wide.

I thought for a second. We probably were, but she couldn't know that. If she thought we fought, I would have to buy make-up to black my eye for two weeks. I don't wear make-up.

"No, we're just going to talk," I lied.

"I don't believe you." Of course not. "I'm going with you."

I denied her pretty vigorously, probably scaring her. I didn't care, there was no way she could be anywhere near us when we phased.

She demanded to know why, and finally I admitted part of the truth. We were going to fight. Once I told her that, she decided she was coming with us. She was adamant and I knew there was no way to change her mind.

I was angry. "Fine! But I'm not slowing down for you. Keep up if you can." I sprinted off at full speed and was about the phase when I heard footsteps behind me. Jesus, she was fast. I couldn't phase right in front of her. That would probably give her a heart attack, so I slowed my pace and yelled to let Jacob know he had to phase back.

A few seconds later he stepped from behind a tree. I stopped where I was, keeping a safe distance between the two of us. Rachel ran up a few seconds later and stood between us. Jacob and I stared murderously at each other and Rachel was the one to break the silence, demanding to know what was going on. Jacob, being the jackass he was, pushed it off on me. Real mature.

I glared at him. What the hell was I going to say? 'I just saw you for the first time in years and guess what? I'm in love with you! How is this possible you may ask? Well first of all, I'm a werewolf. And since I'm a werewolf, your brother thinks I might kill you with my horrible temper.'

I settled on a less alarming version, instead saying, "Your brother seems to think I shouldn't be around you."

Because she was nosy, she had to ask why.

"Because I have a temper," I started slowly. Then I quickly blurted, "Not that I would ever do anything to hurt you."

Jacob tried to butt in again, but Rachel shut him down quickly. I fought the urge to smirk at her angry words to her brother, knowing it wouldn't help my situation with either of them.

She turned back to me, asking me the million dollar question. "Why does he think you can't control your temper around me?"

Shit, did it have to be this question? Of all the possible questions, this had the worst answer. I sucked it up and answered her honestly. I told her I never used to be able to control my temper around anyone. I used to explode when someone looked at me the wrong way. Jacob snickered when I used the word explode. Rachel would think it was just a raging fit, but we both knew it was fur. I shot him a dirty look. He wasn't making this easy. Not that I expected him to.

Then Jacob caught my wording. "Used to? You 'exploded' yesterday."

I looked past Rachel and straight at Jacob making sure he would not miss my meaning. "That was before."

"And why should I believe you're any different now?" he inquired.

I didn't even have to think before I responded. "I'm pretty fucking pissed right now, but I'm still here. I'm not running through the woods, howling at the moon."

Jacob grunted as he acknowledged this fact. I hadn't phased even though he was doing everything he could to piss me off. And I was even more pissed because he did all of it right in front of his sister. Didn't he care about her at all? I started shaking again, but I controlled it. I didn't think I was doing it just because I didn't want to hurt Rachel, although that was always going to be the primary goal. I think I was doing it because I wanted to be a better man for her. Was it wrong for me to want that so soon? I didn't think so but I wasn't sure. All I knew was that if I needed to keep my temper in check to be with her, I would.

Jacob nodded at me, and I knew that he was surrendering. There was no way to fight imprinting. When it happened, it happened. He wasn't happy, obviously, but he was going to deal with it.

"You better not lay a finger on her," he said as he walked by so only I could hear. I almost phased again. He knew that I would never do anything she didn't want me to do. And if she did want me to do it, then he would have to realize it was his sister's decision. I suddenly felt bad for him. He was going to have to see his sister through my eyes. I didn't feel really bad, but a little bit. Mostly because I was certain Rachel was going to be mortified.

I shifted my gaze back to Rachel as she stared at me with wide eyes, obviously trying to comprehend the entire conversation. She was hopelessly confused, and I hoped I would be able to explain it to her soon.

She tried to come up with something to say, but came up short. All I could do was nod. We stood there for a few more seconds. "Ready to head back?" she asked me.

In all honesty, I needed to phase. I had to run and get all of this pent up aggression out, but I wasn't going to let her wander the woods by herself, trying to find her way out. I nodded again and started walking. My breath caught when she took my hand to allow me to lead her. I intertwined our fingers and looked at her. She was stunning even in this dim light, and I knew that Jacob was going to hate me forever because I was never going to be able to stop thinking about her.

When we reached the clearing, I led her back to a log where she took a seat. She motioned for me to sit next to her, but I couldn't think of anything but phasing right now. I shook my head.

"Sorry, but I've got to get home. Gotta work early tomorrow morning." Which wasn't technically a lie. I was supposed to start patrolling at 8, but there was no way I was sleeping tonight.

She nodded and let go of my hand. "Ok, I guess I'll see you around." Around? She was going to be seeing me everyday. Or at least I was going to be seeing her. Suddenly sitting outside a girl's window watching her sleep didn't seem so stalkerish. I smiled to myself as I thought of doing it tonight. I bet she was beautiful when she was sleeping, probably angelic.

I wanted to see her again. Talk to her again. Let her fall in love with me. So I blurted, "Do you want to go to dinner tomorrow night?"

She looked at me apprehensively before she asked, "Like a date?"

"Well, yeah I guess so," I replied. I wasn't the most eloquent, but I got the job done.

'Why yes Paul, I would love to go on a date with you. I love you. Let's make pretty babies.' I smiled and nodded. She loved me already. Then I realized she hadn't actually answered. When I started listening I only caught the very end, "…but I don't date." "Oh," I said. Then I actually processed her response. "Wait….what?" She wasn't going to make this easy was she?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thanks again for reading!**

**Reviews are great no what they say. Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.**

**Get pumped for next week and some insight into Rachel's favorite pastimes ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Paul is up first this week. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did there would be a lot fewer vampires and a lot more werewolves.**

* * *

><p>Paul<p>

What does she mean she doesn't date? Who the hell doesn't date? Was she becoming a nun or something?

"I don't date," she said firmly.

I didn't understand. "Can I ask why?"

She seemed at war with herself, not knowing how to explain it. Then her face hardened and she said, "I'd rather you didn't actually." My eyes fell to the ground. If she wasn't going to explain it to me, how I was I ever going to get past it? I was going to spend my life waiting in the wings for her to realize that I'm not going to break her heart. I needed to take an active role in things.

She continued. "It's not you I promise. I'm just in a place in my life right now where dating would only complicate things. I'm sorry."

This was going to be so much more difficult that I thought. Finally I decided it would be best to honor her wishes. She didn't know it yet, but eventually she wouldn't be able to stay away from me. I hoped.

"Ok, I guess I'll see you around then." I smiled at her as I got up to leave. I needed to phase NOW!

I started walking as calmly as I could towards the woods. I would phase as soon as I was out of sight. I wasn't even worried about my clothes. I didn't like these shorts too much anyway. I quickened my pace, the urge to phase increasing the closer I got. Finally I started running, and as soon I was safely within the darkness of the trees I phased, not even breaking my stride.

Thankfully everyone was at the bonfire, so I was alone in my head. I ran a quick patrol around the rez then started running east. I figured I would turn around when I hit Seattle. Hopefully that would give me enough time to think. For the first thirty miles or so my brain was just a jumble, and I couldn't form a single coherent thought. They only thing I was certain of was Rachel. She was now the center of my life, the answer to every question, my only reason for breathing.

I saw her in my mind, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Even if she wasn't my imprint I would still think so. Though I wasn't sure if I could be impartial now. I thought about my previous fantasy, Keira Knightly, and now she looked like a walrus to me. Sure I could still see why most people would find her attractive, but I knew she didn't hold a candle to Rachel.

I thought about all the feelings that rushed through me when I thought about her. Pure unadulterated happiness, complete and total adoration, a desire to be her own personal armor to protect her from anything and everything that might ever desire to hurt her. I found feelings within myself I never thought existed. I knew that there was nothing I wouldn't do for her. I had incredible loyalty to my pack, but I knew if it came to a choice between them and Rachel, I wouldn't even blink.

I always thought the other guys were exaggerating when they talked about imprinting. I had even seen it in their heads, and I didn't believe them. I could tell that they loved their imprint, but I had never felt the pull. It wasn't anything that had to do with the mind. It was almost like I was physically bound to her. As I ran farther from La Push, it got harder to keep going. Every step I took carried me away from Rachel, and my body fought against it. I didn't even make it halfway to Seattle before I turned back. I would just run in circles around La Push if I had to. I couldn't run away from her.

I got back and ran toward the bonfire. I was almost there when I caught her scent. It was like heaven. I turned my route so I could follow it. I wanted to know why she wasn't at the bonfire anymore. Had something gone wrong?

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her walking on the path from the beach to her house. She appeared to be going home, though why I couldn't be sure. She was walking quickly with her arms crossed in front of her body. She was shivering. Why was she walking by herself after dark? Where was Jacob? And why was she walking around half-naked? Okay, she had tank top on but it was cold, she should have had a sweater or something….

…or a werewolf. Hmm, that wasn't such a bad idea. I knew that I would be able to warm her up more quickly than any sweater would ever be able to, but when I started to phase back I realized I had shredded my shorts. I lived on the other side of the rez. She would be home before I made it there and back to grab another pair, so I had to settle for watching her practically freeze to death as she started jogging the rest of the way home.

Why hadn't Jacob walked her home? What an asshole. Didn't he care about his sister at all? As I was finishing that thought, I felt someone else phase. It took me a minute to realize it was Jacob. Shit.

_Thinking about me?_ he asked.

_You wish. I wouldn't think about you if you were my imprint._ I wasn't in the mood for this.

_Yeah you wish I was your imprint. Honestly, you'd probably have a better chance with me and I would die first._

I was completely confused. How did I have a better chance with him than his sister? At least she was a girl. Oh, god. _She's not a lesbian is she?_

Jacob was laughing. Or whatever we wolves do that is equivalent to laughing. _I don't think so. She plays with her favorite toy too much._

Right before he thought of what it was he quickly diverted his thoughts to his car.

_What the hell? What's her favorite toy?_ I had no idea what the hell a toy had to do with him knowing she wasn't a lesbian.

_I'm giving you a clue dumbass._ He thought of his car again. When he saw I wasn't getting it he focused on the back of the car. Right next to the VW symbol was the model of the car, a Rabbit.

_A Rabbit? What the hell does that have to do with anything? I can't figure out what that could - OH MY GOD! Your sister has a vibrator?_

I took Jacob's silence as an affirmation. _Ok, a few questions. One, how do you know that about your sister? Two, why did you feel the need to share that with me? And third, WHAT THE FUCK MAN? You have issues._

_It's not like I meant to find out,_ he thought, which I completely believed. You would have to be absolutely deranged to want to know that. _I saw it the last time she was home, and she proceeded to tell me all about it._ He made a gagging noise. I really thought he was going to vomit there for a second as I got a glimpse of that memory. Then he directed my attention to a specific quote.

_Rachel was standing in the middle of her room holding her prize possession. "Oh please, don't get so worked up about it. The only drawback to a vibrator is that it can't mow the lawn."_

For some reason this excited me. I could mow the lawn. When Jacob started laughing I realized how ridiculous that was.

_Shut up, Jacob._

_You can mow the lawn? That's the only advantage you present over a vibrator? No wonder she's not falling all over herself to go out with you. She doesn't have a lawn,_ Leah weighed in. I hadn't felt her phase, and I was really pissed she thought she could be a part of this conversation.

_I'm not interested in your thoughts on the matter Leah. If you had your way we'd all be replaced with your battery operated friends. I'm going home._

I started running, and I wished that the wind rushing past would drown out the thoughts in my head. Unfortunately it didn't, but I did my best to block out as much of Leah's whining as I could until I reached my house. I phased back and walked back to my bedroom. I grabbed a pair of shorts and looked longingly at my bed. I was desperately tired, but I knew there was no way I would be able to sleep.

I pulled my shorts on and headed out the front door. I needed to go for a walk. I was sure the entire pack knew about my imprinting by now and could be counted on to give me shit the second I phased. If I couldn't run by myself, at least I could walk without interruptions. I wasn't planning to go to the Rachel's house, but I knew that's where I would end up. I could feel the pull now, and I was sure the closer I got, the harder it would be to resist.

As predicted, less than 20 minutes later, I found myself standing at the tree line behind the house. I knew from my many visits here that Rachel's room was in the back, the second window from the right. I stood in the trees, keeping a safe distance away in case she was still awake or if Jacob had come home. It would not be good if he caught me peeking in his sister's window.

After a few minutes of standing there I had to know that she was safe and in bed. I figured one little peek couldn't hurt, so I walked about halfway across the yard to see inside the darkened room. She was lying on her bed with her back towards the door, facing me. I was about to turn back when her shoulders shook. She wasn't sleep, she was crying. Why was she crying? My heart broke for her, and I started walking around to the front of the house. I didn't care how creepy it looked that I knew she was crying. I needed to be there to comfort her.

Her urgent whisper stopped me. "Mom!" I crept back to the window to try to hear the rest of her thought. She didn't say anything more for awhile, just incoherent sobs. Every once in a while she would interject another name. I heard her mention Katie, Jacob, both of her parents, and Rebecca. Then she said what I felt like I had been waiting my whole life to hear. "I'm sorry, Paul. I'm so sorry."

* * *

><p>Rachel<p>

"I don't date," I repeated slowly. How hard was this for him to grasp? He seemed completely shocked.

"Can I ask why?" he inquired, speaking even slower, like he wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy. I wanted to explain to him, but in all honesty, sometimes I barely understood my reasoning. All I knew was that it was easier when I didn't date. And I tended to take the easy way out of most situations. How could I expect someone else to get that? It hardly made sense to me.

"I'd rather you didn't actually," I told him. His eyes dropped to the group, and I felt bad for shooting him down so heartlessly. He had feelings too. "It's not you I promise. I'm just in a place right now where dating would only complicate things. I'm sorry."

I really was sorry. He seemed nice enough, but I wasn't willing to risk it. He could break my heart just as easily as anyone else, probably more so since I was drawn to him more than others. I just didn't want to add broken heart on to my list of severe emotional crises.

Thankfully he seemed to accept this. "Ok, I guess I'll see you around then." He smiled at me and stood up. I watched him walk away, and he appeared to be quivering. The closer he got to the trees the faster he went. I wondered why he didn't take his car. Maybe he lived close. I didn't really speculate too much, knowing that I'd done enough guessing for the night.

Jake came and sat next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. He was very warm, and it felt nice in the cool night air.

"Paul leave?" he asked me. I caught the optimistic tone in his voice. I still wasn't sure what exactly had gone on in the woods, but it was clear that he didn't want me around Paul. I was glad I'd told him no. Jake was only looking out for my well-being.

"Yeah, he was going home to go to bed. He has to work early tomorrow."

Jake snorted. "I have to work early tomorrow too, and I'm still here. It's only 10. How much sleep does he need?"

"Since when do you work?" I asked him. I hadn't remembered anyone mentioning Jake getting a job.

He chuckled. "Since I had my growth spurt." Why did he keep talking about this growth spurt? Yeah he grew, but why is that such a big deal? Did he get a job reaching things on a top shelf? I doubted it, so why did he seem to focus on it?

"What do you do?" I asked.

"I work with the rest of the guys. We work security," he answered. What, was he a bouncer at the non-existent club in La Push? What could he possibly be working security for? I raised my eyebrows. "That's really all I can tell you. We have this confidentiality thing, and I can't break it."

I was shocked that he wouldn't tell me. "Does Dad know?"

He sighed. "Yeah, but only because he's an Elder."

I needed to know more about this. Security sounded dangerous. And why did Dad get to know because he's an Elder? What do the Elders have to do with anything? Jake looked at me and realized he'd told me too much. I was about to start asking questions, so he preempted them.

"I'm really sorry but I can't tell you about it." He looked away, then let out a big sigh before he continued. "I'm sure if you really want to know Paul will tell you," he said with resignation.

My eyes bugged out of my head. Paul? Why would he be allowed to tell me something my own brother wasn't? I was hopelessly confused. I shook my head hoping some of the information would fall together and make some sense. No such luck.

I was more confused that ever, and the day's stress was starting to take its toll on me. I needed to sleep. "I think I'm going to go to bed," I told Jake.

"Oh, are you sure? They're about to start telling the stories. I know you always used to like them," he said.

"Yeah, I'm just really tired. Besides I know those stories inside and out," I bragged. He smiled at me.

"Do you want me to walk you home?"

I shook my head. "No I'll be fine." I kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

I turned from the fire and started walking home. It was a lot colder away from the fire, and I regretted wearing only a tank top. It was August, but it was still the Olympic Peninsula, I should have known better. I shivered as I moved faster. I finally decided to start jogging. I would get there faster, and I wouldn't feel like such a waste for sitting in the car for eight hours today.

I opened the front door and went straight back to the room I shared with Becca when we were younger. It still looked exactly the same as when we had graduated from high school. Neither of us had been home long enough to care to change it since. I stared at the Orlando Bloom poster above my bed. I had been so in love with him when the Lord of the Rings movies were coming out. Of course the movies were dull as hell, but he was hot so I sat through them.

I collapsed onto the bed without even bothering to remove my jeans. My laundry was still in the washer and I had no intention of exerting the effort to put them in the dryer, so I had no pajamas. Normally at school I would just sleep in underwear, but Dad and Jake had this obnoxious habit of just barging in whenever they felt like it, and they didn't like when I didn't have pants on. Which personally I thought was whiney, since it covered just as much as a bathing suit, but they were old fashioned when it came to sleeping attire. I'm sure my dad would have preferred I sleep in a flannel nightgown. That wasn't going to happen.

I laid there for a few minutes, trying hard not to think, but I was extremely uncomfortable. These pants had to go. I didn't even sit up as I removed my jeans. I tossed them onto the floor and pulled the blankets over me. I tried to get comfortable, but I knew I wouldn't be able to relax until I knew no one was going to come barging in. I stood up and walked over to the door, locking it. Normally we didn't lock doors (in fact, when we were younger it was expressly forbidden) but it seemed like the better option in this situation.

I made my way back to my bed and curled up under the covers. As hard as I tried I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sleep until I cried. So I let myself go, remember this morning, the fight with my roommate Katie, the emotions that always overtake me when I'm home, and my own insecurities about my inability to form an emotional attachment to anyone. I felt horrible for the way I'd treated Paul, and I cried about that too. I cried for what felt like forever until I finally drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks again for reading. This chapter is quite a bit longer than previous ones. Hope you enjoy all the extra happenings! We get to hear more about Rachel's . . . ahem . . . favorite possession.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did there would be a lot fewer vampires and a lot more werewolves.**

* * *

><p>Paul<p>

I sat below her window, listening to her tears slow and eventually stop as she found sleep. I focused on her slow breathing, and soon I was asleep as well. I dreamed of her, of course. It was a very simple dream, and by far the best of my life.

We were lying together on her bed. Just lying there, face to face, staring into each other's eyes. Our hands were intertwined between us, and she craned her neck to kiss me lightly. Our lips met, and the electric spark I'd felt the first time I touched her was there again. Our lips moved together slowly, and I ran my fingers through her hair. She sighed happily and rested her head on my chest.

"I could stay like this forever," she said.

I closed my eyes and kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

She moved her lips to my chest. "I love you, Paul. So much."

I sighed in my sleep, and I knew I had a smile on my face. Suddenly there was a horrible pain in my side, and I was wide awake. I coughed and struggled to find my breath. Someone had kicked me in the side. And I was pretty sure I knew who that someone was.

I sat up, and as I expected, Jacob was standing over me, seething. The sun was just starting to rise, and I knew we had about an hour before we had to patrol. I was awake an hour earlier than I needed to be. That really pissed me off. My hands were shaking, and I was close to exploding, but I knew that if I phased before my ribs healed, it would be extremely painful.

I shot Jacob that dirtiest look I could manage while still holding my side and hoping he wouldn't kick me again. He was going to regret this later. "What . . . do . . . you . . . want?" I gasped.

"I want you to stop dreaming about my sister," he snarled.

I smirked. "Fat change of that."

Wrong answer, apparently. Jacob pulled his foot back, and I didn't react fast enough. I felt my ribs shatter again, at least four this time. They had been close to healed, now I had to wait again before I could defend myself. I fell to my uninjured side, and let my face rest against the dirt while I tried to breathe. I coughed loudly, and when I pulled my hand back it was covered in blood. The douchebag collapsed my lung.

When it re-inflated, I looked up at him again. "You're a real bastard, you know that?"

"I've been made aware," he said through clenched teeth. He started to walk away but thought better of it and turned back, He raised his foot again, and I flinched. I really didn't want to get kicked again; I was close to healed now. He nudged me slightly with his elevated foot. "Get your ass up. Emily's making breakfast."

I stood and dropped my shorts. I took a deep breath to make sure my ribs were healed. There was only the small twinge of a bruise, so I phased and followed Jacob across the rez to Sam's. As we ran, Jacob's thoughts were lingering on Bella Swan. Normally I would have given him hell for thinking about the leech lover, but in the last twelve hours, I'd developed a healthy level of respect for the difficulty of keeping someone out of your head. Sure she wasn't an imprint, but he treated her like one. And now she was married to a bloodsucker. It was disgusting. I was just beginning to understand his pain.

Jacob ran into me with a lowered shoulder and knocked me off course. _I don't need your pity_, he shot at me.

We were close to Sam's, and he phased back a few hundred feet from the house, probably just to get away from my mind, which was centered on Rachel. I ran the rest of the way to the house, phasing at the back door and pulling my shorts on. I walked in the door and pulled a gray shirt out of the basket by the door.

I was fairly pissed that Emily had instituted a shirt requirement at the beginning of the summer. And by fairly pissed, I mean I phased in the middle of their living room and had to buy them a new couch. But now I didn't think it was that bad of an idea. If I ever brought Rachel around here, I would hope that the guys would have the common decency to put clothes on. And now that Emily had made it a rule, I could count on it.

While I was pulling on my shirt, Jacob came up behind me and pushed me through the door, grabbing a shirt of his own on the way. I let him pass me. I didn't really want to enter the kitchen without being announced first. At least then I could prepare myself for the torture that was to come. I felt bad for the way I had treated Jared and Quil, knowing that they would give it back to me twice as bad. Great.

I took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen. Everyone was there already. I decided that was good. Get it all over with at once. I scanned the room, waiting for the first person to make a comment. I looked to Leah first, knowing hers would be the most biting and probably truest of all of them. She just stared back at me, and I could tell she was holding back.

I realized the room was oddly quiet. I looked to Sam for an explanation.

"Jacob has asked that we don't make any comments," he clarified.

I spun around to face Jacob. I was shocked. "You just broke my ribs, and now you're keeping them from calling me names?" I narrowed my eyes. He had to have a hidden agenda. There had to t be something else up his sleeve if he was letting me off the hook this easily.

"I just don't want to hear people talking about my sister like that. Trust me, it has nothing to do with you."

I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed a plate from the counter. If he didn't want to give me shit, I wasn't going to complain. Emily had just finished the eggs, so I filled my plate until it was overflowing. I grabbed a seat at the table before they were all taken. Jacob, Leah, and Quil joined me, all intent on giving me dirty looks for the duration of the meal. Jacob and Leah already hated me, so I was used to the death glares coming from them, but Quil's resentment was a new development. He was intensely jealous that yet another one of us had imprinted on someone our own age. Of course he still loved Claire, he was just envious that he was the only one that had to wait for him imprint to grow up.

I shrugged all three of them off, knowing that they just didn't understand. Well, Quil sort of did, but the only desire he felt toward his imprint was brotherly. I, on the other had, was having extremely lustful thoughts about my imprint even though I had only spoken to her once. I was going to have a harder time of it than Quil.

I was just finishing my first plate and was about to get seconds when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Colin, the youngest of the pack, was waiting anxiously at my shoulder to ask me a question.

"What kid?" I asked, hoping he just wanted to know what time I wanted him to start patrolling when I was finished.

Unfortunately, my hopes were crushed. "What's the name of Rachel's bunny?" He was asking if Rachel's vibrator had a name. My eyes narrowed. Someone had put him up to this. Quil and Leah were coughing their food back onto their plates and Jacob's mouth was gaping open, letting all of his half-masticated food just fall out.

"Okay, first of all, you're thirteen years old. That is way too old to be saying 'bunny.' Secondly, it's none of your business. And finally, as far as I know it doesn't have a name."

I looked to Jacob for confirmation, but he shook his head. "Thor," he said with a look of revulsion on his face.

I groaned. Why did the love of my life have to already be in the love with the mechanical version of the Norse god of war? It just didn't seem fair.

Colin turned to walk away but I caught the collar of his shirt and held him there. "Who put you up to it?" I demanded.

He looked at the ground, not wanting to give up either Embry or Jared, my two prime suspects. "You know I'll find out when we phase anyway," I warned. "Tell me, or I'll come over to your house for dinner tonight." He looked appropriately horrified. Everyone knew that Colin's parents didn't know he was a werewolf and were convinced he was going to get fat if he ate too much, so they controlled his portion sizes. Even a normal teenage boy wouldn't be able to survive on the scraps they gave him. And I had every intention of showing up unannounced and eating most of Colin's portion. Then I'd eat a full pound burger when I got home.

Colin shuddered at the thought. He knew I meant it too. He looked down at the floor again as he ratted one of his brother out. "Seth."

My jaw dropped. Cute little Seth who was supposed to be almost as innocent as Colin and Brady? I was going to kill that little bastard. I stood from my chair the same time Jacob did. I moved quickly, determined to get in the first punch, but before I got to him, Sam was between us.

"Seriously, guys," he said, using his Alpha voice. "Cut it out."

Jacob and I both glared at Seth, who looked concerned for his safety. He should be. As soon as we were out of Sam's sight, I was going to break his nose. Though, looking at Jacob, I wasn't sure I would get there first. It felt strange that we would be on the same side of any argument, but I didn't dwell on it. I knew he was only doing this for his sister. This was as far as our camaraderie would go.

I pushed past Sam and went outside. I wasn't going to phase in Sam's house again and risk having to hand over more of my grocery money to buy them furniture. When I got to the yard, I was taking deep breaths in and out, focusing on not phasing. Then I realized I wasn't shaking. I was so used to phasing at the slightest thing that I'd just expected it, but right now I had no trouble keeping myself in control. I was completely confused, but I didn't really care what it was. Anything that kept me from phasing against my will was fine with me.

Once I realized I didn't have to phase, I decided I wanted to. I would start my patrol early and hopefully make most of a circuit before my brothers joined me. It was easier to concentrate on the task at hand without other people's thoughts clouding my head. Especially today.

I pulled off my shirt and dropped my shorts, feeling my form changing. I would never get sick of that feeling. To feel my strength and speed increasing exponentially was indescribable.

I started running toward the Black house first, starting my patrol on the eastern side of the rez. It wouldn't hurt to run past the house and sneak a peak in the window. I wanted to make sure she was still sleeping, that her tears had not crept back to her.

I ran up to the house, and I only had to raise my head slightly to see in the window. I sighed as I viewed her still sleeping form. She was curled up in a ball, arms hugging her knees, under the blankets. She shivered, and I wished again that I could go in and warm her up. However, I knew I would have more broken ribs if I did that.

It took all of my self-control to tear myself from the window and continue my patrol. As soon as I was away from the house, I felt Jacob and Jared phase. Jacob was very satisfied with himself, and I saw in his thoughts that Seth's nose was disappointed; I'd wanted to take care of that myself. But I smirked, knowing i could still get him later. The threat of getting your nose broken twice would be enough to keep anyone from talking about Rachel.

Jacob was agreeing with my thoughts when he was where I had just been.

_Stay away from my house_, he warned.

I just shook my head, knowing he was going to have to accept it sooner or later. Even if his sister wasn't near me, I would never be far from her. I would sleep under her window every night if I had to.

Jacob seemed to like this idea. He would much rather have me sleeping outside than inside the house, which we both knew was bound to happen eventually. Well, I thought I knew. Actually, I was really just hoping. She was pretty unambiguous last night. She didn't date. And if she didn't date, she definitely wasn't going to like the idea of imprinting. Why did loving her have to be so difficult?

_Difficult?_ Jacob asked. _You think Rachel is difficult?_

Then he started on a tirade about how Bella Swan is the most wonderful person alive, assuming she was still alive, and about how he couldn't imagine being without her, even though he was, and on and on, blah, blah, blah. I blocked him out as best I could. I really wasn't interested in his whining at all. He'd known this was coming; it was his fault if he couldn't cope with it.

We ran our patrols in blissful silence, passing occasionally on our routes. Jared was controlled in his thought about Kim, thankfully, and Jacob had finally calmed down from his vampire-girl rant. I tired to get information out of Jacob without his knowledge, just thinking random things about Rachel. I wondered what her favorite food was. Jacob thought of macaroni and cheese. I wondered what her favorite color was. He thought of neon green. I wondered about her favorite movie, and he showed me the Godfather. I almost shit myself. It was during my freak out that Rachel and I had the same favorite movie that Jacob realized what I was doing.

_Don't do that again,_ he snarled.

Yeah, I guess that was wrong, but I had to try, right? And I'd gotten some valuable information. I couldn't wait to watch the Godfather with her. That was just about the hottest thing in the world, a girl liking a mafia movie.

When Colin, Seth, and Sam phased, Jared, Jacob, and I phased back, done for the day, but not before I sent Seth the image of him with another broken nose. He shuddered involuntarily, and I smiled. I'd let him live in fear of a few days before I let him have it. I'd be fun.

Without meaning to, I phased back on the east side of the rez. I'd been in such a hurry to keep Seth from seeing that I'd be waiting, that I phased as soon as possible. I pulled on my shirt and shorts and stepped out of the trees about a mile from the Blacks'.

I walked over to the house, hoping I'd make it there before Jacob. I was closer, but I wasn't sure he would phase back before he headed home. I walked around the back of the house to peek in the window. It was after noon but I knew some college students slept late, so I wouldn't have been surprised to find her still in bed. I was disappointed when I saw her bed empty. I walked around to the window that looked into the kitchen and peered in, hoping she wasn't nearby to see me leering into her house.

She was nowhere to be seen. Where could she have gone? I walked to the front door and knocked. As soon as I did, I realized I had no reason to be there, and I prayed she wouldn't answer the door. I didn't want to have to make up some lame excuse about wanting to talk to Jacob when she knew I was just with with.

No one came to the door, or even moved in the house, so I figured she was probably not home. When I turned to leave, I caught her scent and wondered how I ahd been blind to it before. I started to follow it, and as soon as I was away from the shade of the trees, with the sun beating down on me, I pulled my t-shirt off.

I wasn't sure why I had even left Sam's with it on. I'd just have to return it later. I was surprised Emily didn't have a sign out sheet. Yet. I figured it was probably coming, since she'd been getting angrier and angrier that no one was bringing shirts back. Or they were exploding in them. Either way, her shirt basket was getting drained.

I was thinking about the prospect of having to sign out a shirt that I didn't even want to wear, when I caught Rachel's scent wafting strongly in my direction. I was at the beach, walking toward a scantily-clad tourist, who I had to admit looked pretty good in her bathing suit. Girls didn't wear suits like that around here enough. I kept following her scent, and I kept getting closer to the sun-bathing tourist. I was confused until I realized that the girl I thought was a tourist was actually Rachel.

Damn. She looked good. And I'd thought that before I knew it was here. A dark cloud settled over me. That meant other guys were probably thinking the same thing. I didn't want other guys looking at her like this. I needed to cover her up. I considered just picking her up and running her back to her house, but she probably wouldn't have appreciated it much. I thought about stopping to talk to her and offering my shirt, but I knew she wouldn't accept. Finally, I settled on the third, and most cowardly, course of action.

As quickly and quietly as I could, I ran up next to her, making sure not to disturb and sad close enough to alter her to my presence. I took my shirt and flattened it out, then laid it on her so that it was covering her from shoulder to mid-thigh. If I had my way, I would have covered her to her ankles, but I wasn't going to toss my shorts on her too.

I bolted away as fast as my legs could carry me and was behind a tree before she even sat up to see what had happened. She looked confused, and it was the cutest thing I had ever seen in my life. She stood from her towel and gave me a full view of her suit as she tossed the shirt over her arm. How could I want to cover that up? Wow.

She started walking toward my hiding place, following the footprints I left behind, and I knew I had to get farther into the trees before she reached me. She took a few steps in. "Hello? Is someone there?"

_Yes, I'm here. I love you. You're perfect._ I wanted to say it, but I didn't. I knew my best course of action would be to stay silent, and I accomplished my goal. She gave up, annoyed, and turned back to her towel. As she walked away, I came to a new realization. I'd always thought of myself as a boob man. My eyes tended to be glued t any girl with a decent sized chest. But now, watching Rachel walk away, I could feel myself becoming an ass man. She looked almost as good from behind as she did from the front.

She laid back down on her towel, leaving the shirt in a ball next to her. Okay, so my plan hadn't gone off exactly how I wanted it to. I watched her lay there as she grew warmer with the sun beating down on her. She turned over to get her back and while she turned, I noticed a smirk on her face. I could only hope she was thinking of me, but I knew better. She'd only known me for fourteen hours.

She only stayed for another five minutes, grabbing her clothes and towel and walking back to her house in just her bathing suit. I considered running up to walk with her, but I had already decided I was inviting myself over for dinner. She didn't have to agree to a date for me to share a meal with her.

I yawn once she was out of sight. I was really tired. I'd only gotten about four hours of sleep last night, and I was leaning against a house. I started back toward my house, hoping to get a few hours sleep before I went over for dinner.

I walked in the front door and collapsed onto the couch, too tired to make it back to my bedroom. My eyes were about to close when the phone rang. Normally I wouldn't have answered it, but for some reason I felt like it was something important.

"What?" I answered angrily. I just wanted to sleep.

"Paul?" her voice asked hesitantly. I was wide awake.

"Rachel? What is it? Is something wrong?" My overprotective side kicked in.

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if you would come over. I wanted to talk to you about something."

I was completely terrified. What had Jacob said about me?

* * *

><p>Rachel:<p>

When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't sure if I felt better, but I didn't feel worse, so I decided that was progress. I'd slept for about eleven hours, and I was a little overtired considering I usually got less than six hours at school. I needed something to do to keep me awake, or I was going to sleep the whole day.

I didn't really have any plans for the day, and no one was around to entertain me. Dad was out fishing with Charlie Swan. (He tried to cancel his plans, but I told him to go anyway. Charlie was having trouble adjusting to his daughter being out of the house, and I knew Dad had some experience in that area.) Jake was 'working', whatever that meant.

I rolled over to the side of my bed and pulled my jeans up from the floor, grabbing my phone out of the pocket. I flipped it open and dialed Becca's number. I'd promised her that I'd call when I got home, but I'd forgotten. She wouldn't be surprised though. I rarely remembered to call when I said I would. It rang a few times and went to voicemail. I realized it was only eight a.m. in Hawaii. The likelihood of Becca being awake was slim to none. I left her a short message telling her I'd call her on my drive back tomorrow then hung up.

I sat on my bed, trying to think of something to do. I hadn't been around La Push in so long that I honestly couldn't think of anything. At school I spent a lot of time at the coffee shop. There wasn't one in La Push for sure, and it was fairly unlikely Forks had one either. Not that I had any desire to drive anywhere; I was still recovering from yesterday.

I finally decided to go out to the beach. It was supposed to be extremely hot today, so I went to grab my bathing suit from the dryer. When I arried in the mud room, I remembered I had left my clothes in the washing machine overnight. I sighed and opened the lid and was immediately hit with the dank smell of mildew. I stepped back, trying to clear the smell away from me and set the machine to run through the rinse cycle again. There was no way I was going to sit around the house throught the rinse then wait for the dryer. I would go crazy.

I went back to my room and pulled open the dresser that I had emptied three years ago when I moved out. I prayed that I had left a bathing suit behind. I rummaged through each drawer, finding horrible item after horrible item. I no longer was embarrassed by the clothing that Jake wore since my wardrobe was obviously just as bad when I was his age. I finally found something in the bottom drawer that was intended for swimming, though calling it a bathing suit would have been generous. It was a string bikini with Brazilian bottoms and an extremely small top. I was pretty sure that was originally Becca's since this was more her style than mine. (She was much more into showing off her body than me.)

I sighed, knowing that if I really wanted to go outside, this was my only option. I pulled it on and checked myself in the mirror. I wasn't fat, but wearing this suit made me feel exposed. I put a t-shirt and shorts over it and hoped I wouldn't overheat before I made it to the beach.

I grabbed a towel and my sunglasses as I headed out the door. I walked slowly to the beach, savoring the sun's rays. I could feel my skin heating already, and I knew I should have put on some sunscreen, but as usual I was too lazy to look for it. I surveyed the beach, looking for a secluded spot to lay my towel. I finally found a spot that was empty of tourists and close to the water. It wasn't that I didn't like the tourists; I just had no interest in answering their questions about the reservation just because I was there. There were people at the resort who got paid to do that.

As I laid on my towel, I knew immediately that my shirt and shorts had to go. As I pulled both off, the heat reduced my awkward feelings about my bathing suit. Honestly, in this heat, the less material the better. I breathed deeply, feeling warm and happy. I raised my arms above my head to try to get some sun on my inner arms when I felt something fall onto my chest. I opened my eyes and found that there was a gray man's tshirt sitting over me, covering me completely.

I looked around to see who had dropped it, but there was no one nearby. There were a few footprints that looked like they were headed towards the woods. I stood to follow them and return the tshirt that had been dropped on me.

I left my towel behind as I walked toward the tree, taking a few steps in before I lost the footprints. I called out, but no one answered. Whoever had dropped the shirt couldn't have gotten far. He should at leave be able to hear me.

I sighed and turned back. I walked back, hoping no one had tried to steal my towel. I wasn't really sure why anyone would want it considering it was least 15 years old and had one than one hole in it, but with tourists you never knew. They were always on the lookout for one-of-a-kind souvenirs.

It was still there, or course, and I set the shirt in a ball next to me as I resumed my sunbathing. I found myself smirking as I rolled to my stomach and it took me a few second to grasp why. I'd been thinking about Paul. Why was I doing this to myself? It was only going to lead to disappointment later. I tried to divert my attention elsewhere, but I realized after about five minutes that I probably should have brought a book or something with me, because I was thinking again. I really didn't like thinking when I had cried within the previous twenty-four hours. I generally needed at least a full emotion-free day before I could allow myself to think without the threat of tears.

I wasn't going to take any risks, so I rolled up my towel, grabbed my clothes including the random tshirt that had apparently fallen from the sky, and headed back to the house. Under no circumstances was I going to cry two days in a row. Ugh. I was disgusted just thinking about it.

I walked in the front door and found Jake shoveling food into his mouth. I stood there practically in hysterics for almost a full minute before his attention was diverted from the spaghetti was he inhaling. He wasn't even twirling the pasta on his fork. He was just scooping and slurping. He looked up at me with sauce all over his chin, and I almost fell to the floor laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked me, insolently.

It took me a few seconds to get my cackling under control before I could answer. "Nothing other than your complete inability to eat without wearing at least half of it. It looks like you haven't made any progress since you were about four."

He rolled his eyes and wiped his face with a napkin before he shoved in another forkful, covering his chin yet again. I wasn't sure how I was still standing after laughing so hard. He swallowed before he even chewed it and took another bite. What a pig.

I had been standing, hoping my clothes over my arms, covering me mostly, and when I started walking to my room, Jake got a full view of what I was wearing. He almost choked up the bite he was currently swallowing whole.

"What the hell are you wearing?" he demanded.

I tried to feign innocence, but i knew full well what I was wearing was one small step away from obscene. "A bathing suit. I was at the beach. Most people wear bathing suits to the beach."

"That's not a bathing suit. That's not even underwear. Underwear covers more," Jake argued.

I decided Jake's punishment for being overbearing would be a horrible mental image. I gave him a devious smirk as I said, "Not my underwear."

He made a gagging noise, and I knew I accomplished my goal. I walked back to the mud room and finally put my clothes in the dryer. As a favor to Jake, while I was in there, I pulled on the shirt and shorts I had taken to the beach. I didn't need to torture the poor kid.

I sat back down at the table with him while he finished his plate that was really more of a serving platter. Where was all that food going? He'd probably eaten more in one sitting than I usually ate in a week. I shook my head.

"What now?" he asked warily. He probably thought I was going to tell him more about my underwear.

"Nothing, you're just eating enough food for a horse. Where does it go? You're still so skinny."

He looked offended. "I am not skinny." He raised his arms and flexed, showing me his bulging muscles.

I laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend. How could I not realize that since you're so buff, that you need enough food to feed an entire third world country?" I said sarcastically.

"Buff?" he asked. "How about ripped?" He flexed again. When had he become so self-absorbed? I didn't bother asking. I already knew the answer. 'When I had my growth spurt.' I was getting sick of that answer already.

"So, how was work?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes. "You know I can't talk about it, Rach."

"Come on, Jake. Was it good or bad?" I prompted.

"Pretty good, I guess," he answered.

"Can you tell me about it?"

"Nope."

I sighed in frustration. I was never going to find out, was I? Then I remembered when Jake had told me last night. He said he wasn't allowed to tell me about his job, but Paul was. I got up from the table and took the phone from the cradle. I looked to Jake. "What's Paul's number?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Rachel's a little emo in this chapter. Sorry in advance for all the whining, but she's got issues to work through too, you know?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but if I did there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

* * *

><p>Rachel:<p>

Paul walked into the house, and I fought the urge to smile at him, but it snuck through anyway. He smiled back, and my body flooded with warmth.

I needed to stop this. I couldn't develop a crush on anyone, especially one of Jake's friends. Becca would never let me live it down.

"Hey," he said to me with a sweet smile. "'Sup man?" he acknowledged Jake. Jake gave him a slight nod with a dirty look, and I hoped my conversation with Paul would end some of this confusion.

"So what's going on?" he asked me.

"I just wanted to talk to you about something. Do you want to go sit outside with me?" His eyes lit up, and he was so excited you'd think I'd just professed my love for him. He still didn't seem to be taking the hint that I really didn't date, but I guess I wasn't doing much to help the situation.

"Sure, sure."

I grabbed the towel I'd taken to the beach earlier and led the way to the back yard. He took the towel from my hands and spread it out, sprawling on it as soon as it was flat.

I sat down next to him and fired my question at him. "Where do you work?" I asked, catching him completely off guard.

He looked stunned. "I work security. Same as Jacob," he replied after thinking for a moment.

"Jake said he couldn't tell me what you do but that you could," I informed him. "So tell me."

"You don't really want to know," he warned me. He tilted his face down and looked up at me through his lashes. He was extremely good looking, I had to give him that. I knew that this face was his puppy-dog face, intent on diverting my attention from the question at hand. I wasn't going to allow myself to be diverted.

"Will you please just tell me? I'm sick of not knowing what's going on in my own family," I requested.

He looked up at the sky, deciding whether or not to tell me. Finally he sighed and looked back at me. "Ok, I'll make you a deal. If you tell me why you were crying last night I'll tell you where I work."

I was stunned. Jake told him I was crying? What kind of brother does that? I was immediately pissed and was about to get up and find Jake but Paul's hand closed around mine, diverting my attention. His touch was light and very warm. I smiled weakly, hoping he would back down on his condition, but it didn't look that way. That comfortable feeling settled over me, and I suddenly found myself talking, avoiding his gaze as much as possible.

I'd never been very good at making friends, a fact which I continually blamed on nature. If I hadn't had a built in best friend from birth, I probably would have been much better at talking to people I hadn't known my entire life. It was hard since I had gone to school with the same group of kids since kindergarten. We didn't have anyone transfer in after the 4th grade, so we got to be a happy little family.

When I got to college, it was a culture shock. Washington State had an enrollment of almost 20,000, while I graduated high school with 12. I knew going in that it was going to be different, but I thought that since I didn't mind the crowds in Seattle, I wouldn't mind living in a building with 500 other people. I was wrong. It was very difficult adjusting, and once I finally got over the worst of the homesickness, everyone had already formed their groups and I was left as an outsider.

My roommate, Katie, was the one person I actually considered a true friend. Sure, I had a few acquaintances, but since I had never spent any real time away from my friends on the rez I couldn't really relate to a lot of different people. Katie and I became friends slowly, going to meals together and talking about our days. We would go to parties but neither of us had a very good time. It took until the end of our first semester to bond and finally call each other 'friend' rather than 'roommate'. After that we became inseparable. There were quite a few people that didn't know who was who since we were always introduced as a pair.

She was my best friend, and I told her everything. There was even a point in time where I considered her a better friend than Becca. How I wish I could go back in time and save myself the heartache of having my best friend turn on me.

She was always high strung and whined a lot, but I knew it was just from being spoiled as a child, and I thought she would get over it as she matured. It became apparent a few months ago that nothing was ever going to change when we went to class and she refused to sit on the end of the row and threw a tantrum when I didn't understand why. I still don't.

We slowly drifted apart when her immaturity took over, and she would invite me to go places then leave without me. I spent more than one night fuming, starving since I had thought we would be going to dinner together. Sometimes I wouldn't eat just out of spite, so she had to hear my growling stomach all night. It never bothered her though.

Things finally came to a head the morning I came home. They were having a special breakfast for our dorm that ended at 10. We overslept, of course, and were rushing downstairs at 9:45 when we met some people walking up who told us they had ended breakfast early.

"That's just great!" she yelled angrily, throwing her hands in the air and turning to head back up the stairs. I knew that she was angry, but it wasn't until she slammed the door in my face that I realized she was angry at me.

I turned the knob, and it didn't budge. She locked me out! I didn't have my keys with me, so I pounded on the door. She opened the door with narrow eyes and started stalking back to her computer desk but I was not going to let that go.

"What is your problem?" I yelled, slamming the door as I entered the room.

"My problem? My problem is that I'm starving and since you can't be bothered to get out of bed, I have to wait until lunch now!" she screamed, getting in my face. Her argument was completely ridiculous, so I didn't respond. If she had a real issue then I would reply, but until then I would let her keep making herself look like an asshole.

I took a step back and found myself leaning against the post of our bunk bed. She moved in even closer as she continued, "It's not like I'm even surprised though, you're always sabotaging me!"

"Oh really, I sabotage you?" I countered.

"Why do you think we don't have any friends? It's not because of me. People hate you, and I'm starting to understand why!" She pointed a finger in my face and it took everything I had not to grab it and break it. I settled on glaring at her instead.

"People hate me? And you never said anything?" I asked through my teeth resisting the urge to punch her to the ground.

She smirked. "Oh yeah, Kelsey and I have been talking behind your back for months."

I stood there for a few seconds, breathing deeply in and out to calm myself. Kelsey had been my friend first, and now she was talking shit with Katie. I knew then that I would never speak to Kelsey again.

I rationally thought about my options at that moment and I moved away from her. I didn't think my scholarship would still be valid with a felony assault conviction. I grabbed my keys and my cell and headed downstairs. As soon as I was out of the room, tears spilled over and I put the phone to my ear, calling Becca.

I ranted on the phone for 15 minutes pacing back in forth in front of my building collecting strange looks from people passing by. Becca was finally starting to realize that this thing with Katie was not just a small disagreement that we should go to the RA to sort out.

"I don't know what to do Bex! I can't go back in there with her! What should I do?" I asked.

She seemed taken aback when I asked for advice. I was always the one who knew what I had to do and I did it. There was no ambiguity in my life. Until now. Becca took a deep breath, and I knew I was in for it. She was going to tell me to go up there and try to work things out with Katie. I knew I wasn't capable of doing that currently.

"Why don't you go home for the weekend?" she suggested. I was stunned. I never would have thought of that but it made sense. Home was the one place where I knew everything that was going on. I didn't give myself time to talk myself out of it. It was a long weekend, and I didn't have to work so I decided to leave.

I hung up with Becca, then prepared myself to go back into a room with Katie. I scaled the stairs and opened the door to my room. Katie was on the phone lying on her bottom bunk (since she didn't have the leg strength to climb to the top, supposedly) talking to her mother no doubt. I grabbed my laundry basket and car keys, pulling my backpack on my shoulder as I turned to leave.

I turned back as I reached the door, knowing that I could be the bigger person in this situation. "I'm going home," I said with faked sincerity. She shot me a dirty look then went back to talking to her mother about 'the bitch'.

I decided maturity was overrated. "If you could keep from touching my things while I'm gone that would be great. And you might want to start thinking about your statement to campus security when they come to question you about assaulting me." I smirked and walked out the door, practically running down the hall so she wouldn't follow me. Of course I wasn't going to call security on her, but it was nice to know that she would be sweating it all weekend. She'd been charged with battery once before (by an ex-boyfriend who weighed a hundred pounds more than her and though the charges were eventually dropped I was never truly convinced that she was completely innocent), so she had reason to be nervous.

I bounded down the stairs and across campus to my car. As I walked, I called my dad to let him know I was coming home. He sounded excited and suddenly I was excited too. I loaded my basket in the trunk and was headed home for a weekend of rest and relaxation.

When I was pulling onto the highway, it really hit me what happened. My best friend hated me. Someone I was going to ask to be a bridesmaid if I ever got married. The one person I felt comfortable telling everything to. I knew then that that had been a mistake. The tears spilled over, and I couldn't breathe. Everything was different. I could almost feel my world view shifting.

As I drove home I realized all of this pain could have been prevented. And I would do my best to prevent feeling like my heart had been ripped out of my chest ever again. Even if that meant not getting close to anyone else. That would be the price I paid.

As I finished my story, I looked to Paul. He had been nodding all along, not judging anything. The only reaction he gave was to my comment about never getting close to anyone. He didn't like it, and honestly I wouldn't have either if the person I had a crush on was constantly shooting me down.

I had been fighting back tears through the entire story, and when I finished a single tear rolled down my cheek. Paul reached his hand up and brushed it away. His hand settled on my cheek, and I leaned into it. The warmth was comforting.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

I nodded. It was horrible telling my story, but I knew I had done it for a reason. I looked into his eyes. "It's your turn now."

I could tell he was still debating whether or not to tell me, but I wasn't going to be brushed off. I picked up his hand in mine and started rubbing it absently as incentive for him to talk.

"Ok, do you remember the stories they told at the bonfire last night?" he asked me.

I was confused yet again. Why was he adding more questions? What could the legends possibly have to do with their job? I decided to go with it for a minute to see if this was heading anywhere useful but I wasn't optimistic. "Actually I went home before the stories started, but I know them backwards and forwards," I told him.

He smiled at me weakly, like he was about to give me bad news. "Ok, then you remember the story about the protectors, the Spirit-Warriors who became wolves?"

I nodded thinking back to the story. The wolves protected the reservation from threats. Kind of like security. So the boys were guarding the rez? What could we possibly need to be protected from? And how were they protecting us? I didn't like the idea of Jake carrying a gun.

"So you're protecting the rez? How? And from what?"

He was biting his lip, and I knew I was in for it. It was probably something ridiculous like animal control or something. They were probably in charge of rounding up rabid raccoons or something like that. And they called that security? I fought the urge to laugh.

"All the stories are true, Rachel," he said to me, with fire burning in his eyes. It was hard to doubt him when he looked at me like that. But how could the stories be true? Humans who changed into wolves to protect us from vampires? That's more than a little ridiculous. First of all vampires didn't exist, so why would be need to be protected from them? . . . . They didn't exist, right?

I took a deep breath and looked into Paul's eyes. He wasn't lying to me, I knew somehow. I didn't know what to do. He really believed that he was a werewolf? And Jacob was, too? I wondered how far away the closest mental hospital was.

"You don't believe me do you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "How could I? They're just fairy tales."

This time he shook his head. "They're not. Do you want me to show you?"

I was suddenly very nervous. "Umm, okay?" I managed to squeak out.

He stood up and walked towards the trees. What was he going to do? He moved behind a tree and a few seconds later a huge wolf the size of a horse stepped out. I screamed and stood to start running, but before I knew it there were warm arms around me holding me down.

"It's ok. I know it's shocking," Paul was saying to me. How had he gotten here so quickly? Wasn't he just a wolf or did I just hallucinate? Maybe I was the one the belonged in a mental hospital. I realized I was crying again. I was absolutely repulsed at myself. I never cried in front of other people no matter how horrible (aka insane) the situation, and now I was crying in Paul's arms. I was becoming such a girl, and not in a good way.

* * *

><p>Paul:<p>

I walked over to the Blacks' house (since my truck was still at the beach from last night). I let myself in and saw Rachel standing in the kitchen staring at Jacob, apparently appalled at the amount of spaghetti he was eating. I smirked. I ate twice as much as he did.

When she noticed me, a smile snuck up on her. I could tell from the stunned look that crossed her face next. I was making progress. I returned her smile and greeted her.

I acknowledged Jacob, thought I didn't want to, and he nodded back with a look that told me to keep my hands to myself. I wasn't making any promises.

"So what's going on?" I asked her.

She bit her lip as if she wasn't sure she wanted to ask me whatever it was she had called about. "I just wanted to talk to you about something. Do you want to go sit outside with me?"

She loved me. I knew it. We're going to be together forever. Is it too soon to propose marriage? Would she say yes if I got down on one knee right now? Maybe I'd better not, that might freak her out a little bit.

"Sure, sure." I replied, trying for nonchalant but probably not succeeding.

She pulled out the same towel she'd had at the beach and led the way to the backyard. It didn't escape my attention that she was still wearing that bathing suit under her clothes. I wished I had suggested we go down to the beach. I would kill (literally kill - though hopefully just a bloodsucker) to see her in that suit again.

When she stopped, I grabbed the towel from her hand, laid it out and collapsed on it. I was still tired hell.

She as sat next to me, keeping her distance, then asked the question that would lead to the topic I had been dreading. "Where do you work?"

I didn't want to answer. She wasn't ready to hear about this. I wasn't ready to tell her. I hadn't even thought about what I was going to say. So I dodged her question. "I work security. Same as Jacob."

She replied quickly. "Jake said he couldn't tell me what you do but that you could. So tell me," she ordered. I had to tell her, she was suspecting it was something worse that it was, I could tell. She probably thought we were just wandering the woods in wolf costumes, scaring the raccoons away. I fought the urge to laugh. That would be hilarious.

Her command still didn't change the fact that I really, really didn't want to tell her. I looked at the ground hoping to find an answer there. "You don't want to know," I warned her. I looked up at her and she looked startled. Had I scared her? I didn't think so; she seemed more anxious than frightened. Maybe she didn't really want to know. Maybe I'd convinced her it wasn't important.

Obviously not. "Will you please just tell me? I'm sick of not knowing what's going on in my own family."

I fought the urge to laugh again. She'd been in suspense for less than 24 hours. There were others who had been in suspense for more than a year now. It didn't seem fair that I could tell her, but my mother still thought I was a worthless waste of life who only went out and got drunk with my friends every night.

Finally I came up with a brilliant idea to keep her from continuing this line of questioning. "Ok, I'll make you a deal. If you tell me why you were crying last night I'll tell you where I work."

She'd never tell me that, and if my some strange miracle she did, it might provide some insight into a better way to tell her.

When I looked back to her, she looked angry. Was she mad I'd asked the question, or mad that I knew she'd cried at all? She started to stand, but I couldn't let her get away that easily. I reached out and grabbed her hand, keeping her on the towel with me.

She gave me an anemic smile that meant she was trying to get out of this. I shook my head and waited for her next excuse. It was surprised when she started telling her story, which for some reason started with her notion that she was unable to make friends.

I focused on her words, listening intently and filing away any information she would give me. She described her homesickness when she first left home, her feelings of being an outsider, and my heart broke for her. She talked about her roommate Katie, a name I recognized from her crying last night, and how she was her best friend. I fought back the urge to run to Wazzu and kill Katie when Rachel started telling me about how Katie had turned on her.

I didn't focus on the details. They weren't important. All that mattered was that someone had abused her trust out of spite. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sound of her voice to keep from phasing. Rachel didn't deserve this pain.

I smirked when she mentioned her desire to attack Katie. Maybe she had a temper too. I hoped she did. Tempers made girls hotter.

I especially enjoyed her final moments with her roommate before she left to come home. Her words were truly devious, and I hoped Katie was still cowering in her room, afraid to leave in case security was waiting outside of her door.

When she got towards the end, her emotions started flooding through. I knew this was affecting her more than she was letting on during the story. She listed off her troubles, and I couldn't help trying to solve them for her in mind.

Her my best friend hated her. I could be her best friend. She was going to ask Katie to be her bridesmaid. We could run off to Vegas and never give bridesmaids a second thought. Katie was the only person she told everything to. She could tell me anything.

Her next words seemed to sum up not only her experience with Katie, but also my experience with her. "I couldn't breathe. Everything was different. I could almost feel my world view shifting." I wanted to pull her into my arms and comfort her, but she wasn't finished. Her final summation was a needle to the center of my heart.

She was committed to never becoming close to anyone again. While I could barely argue with the solid logic she presented, I knew it was no way to live. Even if she was a random girl on the street, I would tell her that. You can't shut everyone else out.

I knew in that moment that I only had one way to convince her. I had to let her in. I had to tell her my secret, no editing, no attempts to spare her feelings, just the truth, just as she had done for me. She more than deserved it after telling me her story.

She finished and looked at me, and as she raised her head a tear spilled over. I moved my hand out to wipe it away. All I wanted to do was hold her and protect her from the world, but I knew this was all she would allow me to do.

She surprised me when she closed her eyes and leaned her hand into my hand.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, hoping it conveyed even a tenth of the sorrow I was currently feeling.

She nodded and opened her eyes. "It's your turn now."

I knew I had to tell her, but I still didn't know how. As I was thinking of how to begin, she took my hand in hers, and I was reminded of the electric feeling I'd felt last night when she'd taken my hand to lead her out of the forest. Then I knew how to begin.

"Ok, do you remember the stories they told at the bonfire last night?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't have to tell the whole story from the beginning.

She looked skeptical. "Actually I went home before the stories started, but I know them backwards and forwards," she replied, sounding a little full of herself. Normally I would have found this hilarious, but I wasn't in a mood to laugh, so a weak smile was all I could muster.

At least this would be slightly easier. "Ok, then you remember the story about the protectors, the Spirit-Warriors who became wolves?" I asked, hoping to lead her to the answer, rather than tell her myself.

She thought for a moment and nodded. "So you're protecting the rez? How? And from what?"

So many questions and not a single one I wanted to answer. I knew that I just had to be direct and give her as much information as possible. I looked into her eyes with as much intensity as I could so she would know I wasn't lying. "All the stories are true, Rachel."

She processed this information and as each second passed her face became more and more contorted. She thought I was lying.

"You don't believe me do you?" I asked.

She shook her head. "They're just fairy tales."

God, how I wished that was true. I knew I had to show her. There was no other way to make her believe me. I shook my head, trying to come up with another plan. There wasn't one.

"Do you want me to show you?" I asked, praying she would say no, that she already believed me.

No such luck. "Umm . . . ok?" At least she didn't look skeptical anymore. She looked truly terrified that I had been telling the truth.

I nodded to her and stood up, walking behind the trees so I could undress. I closed my eyes and turned my face upward, trying to convince myself that this was a good idea. I knew it wasn't right to shock her like this, but subtlety was not my strong suit. Finally, I gave in and phased. I stepped out, knowing the look of shock on Rachel's face would be painful to witness.

It was worse than I imagined. She screamed and stood to run away. I phased back as quickly as possible, thankful I'd thought to put my shorts in my mouth. I pulled them on as I ran to her. I enveloped her in my arms, holding her shaking form as her tears started rolling.

I stroked her hair, muttering, "It's ok. I know it's shocking." She cried harder and nuzzled into my chest. My heart broke for her with every sob but there was another part of me that ecstatic. She hadn't pushed me away. I was making progress. She would love me yet.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Normally I'm not one to complain about lack of reviews, I know people have different reasons for not reviewing, but I'm losing heart here. I can see that people are reading this story, but no one seems to be interested enough to review. It's tough to keep writing when I don't know if people even like it. I'm not going to hold the next chapter hostage or anything like that, but I would like to request some feedback. Even if it's not positive; I just want to know, especially if you think I'm wasting my time writing this.**

**Paul's up first the week :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but if I did there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

* * *

><p>Paul:<p>

She stopped crying long before she let go. I concentrated on her breathing, and for a few minutes I thought she had fallen asleep. I smiled to myself. Rachel asleep in my arms would be like achieving a life-long goal I'd never known I had. As I was focusing on this she took a deep breath signifying she was still awake. I was slightly disappointed, but there was no need to rush things. We had the rest of our lives for her to sleep in my arms.

She turned her face up to look at me and there was no confusion in her eyes as I'd expected. There was no ambiguity in her expression. She was sure of something, though I wasn't sure what. I hoped it was her feelings for me but I didn't get my hopes up. She wasn't the type to get attached so quickly and I would just have to deal with that.

As she looked at me her expression changed and she leaned forward. My heart rate increased exponentially as she moved closer. She brought her lips up to graze mine, and I thought I was going to pass out. Before I knew what I was doing I pulled back to stare at her. I was in shock. She'd kissed me. She'd kissed me! I couldn't imagine a more perfect world than the one I was in right now.

She moved her gaze to the ground, feeling rejected by my sudden movement. I felt hurt that she wasn't sure of my feelings for her. I needed to show her. I put my fingers under her chin and raised her face to mine. I looked into her eyes for a moment, gauging her reaction before I moved in. I brought my lips back, moving them slightly against hers. It was better than I imagined. Her lips were softer, and tasted better than I would have thought possible. I was content to kiss her forever, but I knew that for a first kiss, this was going on a little longer than it should. She was probably wondering how much longer we were going to sit like this.

I sighed and pulled back, bringing our foreheads together. She looked sad again. I should have known better than to hope that all of her problems would be solved in one long crying jag. "Are you ok?" I asked her.

She cleared her throat after thinking for a moment. "I think so." Then her eyes were completely lost in thought. I hoped she wasn't going to reconsider her answer. I wouldn't be able to handle it if she felt worse in my presence. I pushed that thought out of my mind. I couldn't even think about it.

"Actually, I think I'm better than ok," she asserted.

I almost melted with happiness. This had been so easy. She had taken the wolf thing so much better than anyone ever had before and now even with all of her other problems, she was better than ok. I was so lucky.

I laughed to myself as I thought of poor Jared.

"What's funny?" she asked me.

"Nothing really. Jared's going to be really jealous. It took Kim a week to speak to him after he told her." I gave her a smile, letting her know how appreciative I was of her easy-going reaction.

She took another deep breath and I knew there was still something bothering her. "What's wrong?" I asked as I placed my hand on her cheek.

"I have one more question, but I'm not sure I want to ask it," she said tentatively.

"Just ask." She never had to be afraid to ask me anything. I would always tell her the truth.

"Why were you allowed to tell me about the wolves but Jake wasn't? He's my brother. Why wasn't he allowed to tell his family, but you were allowed to tell someone you just met yesterday?"

I inhaled sharply. I wasn't quite ready to answer this question. I'd been working on my wording about imprinting that didn't use the word soulmate. That was sure to freak her out. I also didn't want to mention the theory behind imprinting. She didn't need to know that the whole point of an imprint is someone best suited to carry on the wolf gene. That would be a little much this early in the relationship. That would be like proposing marriage after one date, which I hadn't entirely ruled out. Actually it was more like naming the kids on the first date, which freaked eve me out, and I was the one with all the crazy imprinting emotions flying around. It would scare the shit out of Rachel.

I calmed myself and started the best way I could. "There's this thing that werewolves do. It's called imprinting. Did you ever hear any stories about that?" I hoped she had, but I didn't get my hopes up. She shook her head.

"I didn't think so. That would have made this easier. It's not a story that's told too much anymore because no one thought it was real. Until Sam anyway." She looked annoyed, like I was keeping her in suspense. The look on her face was so cute I almost didn't want to tell her. But annoyance can morph into anger very easily. I would know.

"Ok, imprinting happens when a wolf sees a girl for the first time after he's phased. It's like the whole world shifts and all he wants to do is make her happy. There is nothing in the world as important to him as her happiness. It's painful to be away from her, even for a little while. And since an imprint is the most important person in a wolf's life, she gets to privilege of knowing everything."

I gauged her reaction. She wasn't running away, so I was making progress, but I wasn't sure if she had it all figured out.

"So what you're saying is….you imprinted on me?" She didn't miss much. I nodded while she thought.

She smiled widely at me. "That's pretty cool." Oh, thank god. She wasn't freaked out. She didn't think I was crazy, or overbearing, or lying to her. She was the best imprint ever. But I already knew that.

She was leaning in to kiss me again when my body betrayed my exhaustion with a yawn.

She jumped on it quickly. "Are you tired?"

"No," replied quickly, but I didn't convince her.

She looked me straight in the eyes, with a firm look. She wasn't going to let me slide on this.

"Yes you are. You need to go home and get some sleep."

I was dead tired, but I didn't want to leave. I briefly considered asking to nap on their couch but I was pretty sure I was going to be talking about her in my sleep. And that could get awkward. Especially since it was Jacob's house too.

As if to convince me, she kissed me lightly again. "Go home and come back when you're rested. I'll wait up for you," she said with a hint of sultriness. I wasn't sure if she meant to or not, but she had me exceedingly turned on. I wondered what she wanted to do when I was rested. I let my mind wander for a moment but I knew it was way too soon to be thinking about anything that involved the removal of clothing. But seriously, anything with her would be enough. I'd even pussy out for a cuddle on the couch.

"Ok," I allowed, but only because she told me to come over later. If there hadn't been that promise, there would have been no way that I would ever sleep again.

I helped her to her feet and hugged her tightly. "I'll see you later," I promised with a kiss on the cheek. I walked her back to the door and moved around to the front of the house.

Thankfully Jacob was not outside, as I'd honestly expected him to be. He would not be happy that I'd kissed Rachel, but in my own defense she kissed me first. I didn't think that would matter to him though. He'd take any excuse to remove my appendages. Preferably he'd go for arms and legs first though. I didn't want him to remove my favorite until I'd had a chance to try it out with Rachel.

I walked down to the beach to retrieve my truck which was still waiting for me where I'd left it last night. As I sat in the cab, I thought out how much my life had changed since the last time I'd been in there. God, my life was perfect.

The engine turned over, and I drove home as quickly as possible. I needed to sleep. But first I needed to eat. I walked in the front door, grabbed the half of a left over sub from yesterday (or maybe the day before but I tried not to think about how old it was) and crashed on the couch for the second time today. My eyes closed and I slipped into unconsciousness and dreams of Rachel.

* * *

><p>Rachel:<p>

I stayed in Paul's arms for what felt like forever. In that moment I would have liked that. Though I should have been terrified of him, I just couldn't find it in myself to be afraid. I felt safe with him. Deep down I knew he wasn't lying last night when he said he would never hurt me.

I took a deep breath before turning my face up to him. I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle looking at him. I brought my head up and his eyes were swimming with so many emotions it was hard to discern what they were. There was sympathy, understanding, compassion, and above all adoration. He loved me. I was sure of it. Looking into his eyes it was hard to deny that I felt something for him too. It was absolutely crazy, this feeling settling in my stomach. That comfortable, easy feeling took hold and intensified.

I moved my lips up to graze his. He pulled back in shock, and I was instantly afraid I had misread his signals. Did he see me as more than a friend? I'd thought so, but I'd never been very good at reading people. I looked down at the ground, embarrassed at my sudden outburst, when his fingers moved from my hair to under my chin, pulling my face up to meet his.

He brought his lips back to mine, slowly, lightly. The feeling was unlike any I had ever felt before. At ease, relaxed, content to never move again. He pulled back long before I was ready, pressing his forehead to mine.

"Are you ok?" he asked, though I suspected he already knew the answer to that question.

I cleared my throat, trying to think clearly. "I think so," I said in a small voice. I thought for a moment. I hadn't felt this good in a long time. I definitely felt better than yesterday. Last week was kind of a shitty week, too. My summer was headed toward receiving the top honors as worst summer of my life, due to consisting of work and classes and nothing else. I tried to think back to a time when I felt better. I hadn't felt this relaxed and safe since before my mom died.

I shook with the realization that in less than 24 hours I went from wounded and unhappy to secure and content. My life had turned around in a matter of hours, and I was pretty sure Paul was the one responsible. I wasn't sure how he did it, all I knew was I didn't want this feeling to go away.

He looked into my eyes with concern, and I could tell he thought I was lying. "Actually, I think I'm better than ok," I assured his.

He chuckled.

"What's funny?" I asked.

"Nothing really. Jared's going to be really jealous. It took Kim a week to speak to him after he told her." His wide smile warmed my heart.

This reminded me of another question I'd asked that he hadn't answered, though I wasn't sure I wanted to know. This whole werewolf thing was shocking enough. I didn't think I could take any more excitement today.

I took a deep breath and he held me tighter. "What's wrong?" he asked, moving a hand to my cheek, searching my gaze.

"I have one more question, but I'm not sure I want to ask it."

"Just ask," he instructed.

I gave him a weak smile. "Why were you allowed to tell me about the wolves but Jake wasn't? He's my brother. Why wasn't he allowed to tell his family, but you were allowed to tell someone you just met yesterday?"

He took in a sharp breath. He didn't want to answer it any more than I wanted to ask it. This must be really bad, though honestly I couldn't come up with any possible reasons why he was allowed to tell me when Jake wasn't. If it was just because he had a crush on me, then that was pretty weak. I knew that I loved my brother more than I loved him, and I was much more inclined to keep this secret for Jake's sake than Paul's.

"There's this thing that werewolves do. It's called imprinting. Did you ever hear any stories about that?" he asked me. I searched my memory but I didn't recall ever hearing anything about imprinting. I shook my head.

"I didn't think so. That would have made this easier. It's not a story that's told too much anymore because no one thought it was real. Until Sam anyway." Could he just tell me already? It's like he was trying to build the suspense.

"Ok, imprinting happens when a wolf sees a girl for the first time after he's phased. It's like the whole world shifts and all he wants to do is make her happy. There is nothing in the world as important to him as her happiness. It's painful to be away from her, even for a little while. And since an imprint is the most important person in a wolf's life, she gets to privilege of knowing everything." He looked at me, hoping I'd pieced all the information together. I hoped I had.

"So what you're saying is….you imprinted on me?" I asked hesitantly.

He nodded once and waited for me to let it sink in. So my happiness is important to him. I guess that's not such a bad thing. I had to say he was doing a good job so far. It was painful for him to be away from me? Right now I couldn't think of anywhere else I would rather be than in his arms. And I was the most important person in his life. I would mind being first for once. I was sick of taking a backseat to everyone else. I wanted to be the center of attention. And it looked like Paul was giving me that. I smiled at him.

"That's pretty cool," I told him.

His smile became wider than I had ever seen it. He was so happy. I felt that warm feeling in my stomach again.

I was about to kiss him again when a yawn snuck through.

"Are you tired?" I asked.

"No," he replied quickly, but I knew he was just covering.

I gave him a stern look. "Yes you are. You need to go home and get some sleep."

He gave me a look, telling me he didn't want to leave. In truth I didn't want him to go either but he needed to sleep. It wasn't fair of me to keep him awake like this.

I brushed my lips lightly against his. "Go home and come back when you're rested. I'll wait up for you," I promised.

"Ok," he agreed. I moved out of his arms and he helped me to my feet. He pulled me into a tight hug. "I'll see you later." He kissed my cheek and walked me back to the house before heading home.

As I walked in the door, I moved past Jake's questioning eyes. "I just need to think for awhile," I informed nodded.

"If you want to talk I'm here," he offered.

"Thanks," I responded as I walked into my room. I closed the door and sank onto my bed.

I had so many questions, and now that I was outside of Paul's arms it was much easier to think. The heat that emanated from his body clouded my thoughts. Was that high body heat a werewolf trait? Was that what caused their 'growth spurts'?

I had so many questions about so many different subjects. I wanted to know what it meant to be a werewolf. What was their exact job description? I needed to know if vampires were real too. I hoped they weren't but Paul did say all the stories were true. I believed him. He wouldn't lie to me. At least I didn't think he would lie to me, but I really didn't know him all that well.

Then I focused on the whole imprinting thing. It was the only thing I hadn't heard of before, and I didn't know what to make of it. It seemed completely off the wall. I didn't understand the purpose. He was supposed to make me happy? What did he get out of it? I didn't understand in the slightest bit.

Slowly I put the pieces together. Paul saw me at the bonfire and immediately liked me. After he'd made it clear that he liked me, Jake saw what he was trying to do and tried to stop him. Jake seemed angrier than he normally did when someone showed interest in one of his sisters, and I couldn't really fathom why, if Paul was just meant to make me happy. Wouldn't Jake want me to be happy?

Then I came to my conclusion. I was never much of a conspiracy theorist, but this was just too easy to see. Yes, they were werewolves, which just meant they spent of lot of time together and that would mean that Jake knew what lines Paul used on girls. I had to admit that imprinting was quite the good pick up line. If I responded to lines like that he would have achieved his goal, which I'm sure was to get in my pants before I left to go back to school.

I almost felt bad that he had wasted his time on me. I laughed to myself as I imagined Paul giving that line to Becca instead. There would have been flying clothes almost immediately. Becca was always a sucker for that kind of thing. Paul had definitely picked the wrong twin in that respect. (Though Becca was married now; it wouldn't have worked quite as easily. And I don't think her husband would have appreciated that very much.)

So that left me with my previous thoughts that I loved him. Obviously I was on an adrenaline high from the whole werewolf thing. Now that I was away from him and thinking clearly I could now see that the warm feeling I was having was probably just from Paul's arms wrapped around me.

It was ridiculous for me to be in love after talking to someone twice. Especially when I had realized years ago that I would never fall in love. It just wasn't meant to be. I'd accepted it, and now Paul was trying to change my mind just to get some. I was more than mildly annoyed but I could see how he might think he could change my mind. He'd probably changed more than one girl's mind before. He couldn't know that I was different; completely emotionally cut-off from the rest of the human population. I laughed to myself as again I almost felt sympathy for his poor choice of target.

But then I realized that he probably used imprinting regularly. There were probably other girls who had fallen for this line. And that was inexcusable. He was going to pay for what he did to those other girls and what he had done to me. When he came over later, I was going to have some fun with him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but if I did there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

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><p>Rachel:<p>

_This is going to be fun_, I thought to myself. Probably the highlight of my weekend, if not my summer. My plan was fully formulated. Now all I had to do was wait for Paul to come over. I felt devious as I sat in front of the TV with Dad and Jake.

When I emerged from my room, Jake tried to force me to ask him my questions. I informed him that I was just going to wait to ask Paul. Jake's disappointed look when I mentioned Paul only solidified my previous theory. Jake didn't want me hanging out with Paul. Paul was taking advantage of me. And I was going to teach him why that was not acceptable.

I was getting impatient. It was after 10. Paul had been gone for 9 hours. How much sleep did he need? I sighed loudly. My plan wasn't going to be as much fun if I had to fight to stay awake through it.

"How much longer do you think he's going to be?" I asked Jake with obvious annoyance in my voice.

He seemed happy that I was finally asking him something, as trivial as this question might be. "Don't worry. As soon as he's awake, he'll be over," he said with disdain. Jake really didn't like Paul, which only spurred me on more. Maybe Jake would get some gratification out of this too. I smiled to myself as I thought of putting on my show in front of Jake. I shivered with excitement. This was going to be so awesome I could barely stand it.

At eleven o'clock, my dad excused himself to go to bed. After a few minutes there was a quick knock on the door and Paul let himself in. I smiled at him. It was an essential part of my plan, keeping him calm and relaxed for as long as possible. Jake groaned, which helped my intention even better.

I stood up to greet him with a hug. "How was your nap?"

"The best one I've ever had," he replied with a smile, leaving his arms wrapped around me.

"Why is that?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He glanced at Jake quickly before he answered. "Because I dreamt about you."

Man, he was really laying it on thick. Jake made a gagging noise and got up from the couch. "I'll leave you two alone," he said, heading toward his room. He emphasized the word 'alone' but I was sure he'd be eavesdropping. What were little brothers for, after all? I was sad he wasn't going to get to see the show I was going to put on, but it helped my stage fright a little bit. Plus, I'd tell him all about it in the morning.

As soon as Jake was in his room, we sat on the couch, and he put his arm around me. I had to admit, I really liked how warm he was. He grabbed the remote and shut the TV off, turning his body toward me.

"How's it sinking in?" he asked me. He grabbed my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. I smiled at him. He seemed so genuine.

"Ok, I think. I'm not running away screaming, so that's good right?"

He laughed. "Yeah, that's progress. Actually I think you might be the first imprint to get a handle on it on the first day. I guess I got pretty lucky with you," he smiled at me and scooted in closer. He thought he was going to get even luckier, the douchebag.

I smiled as I leaned closer to him and went in for the kill. "I love you Paul," I said before touching my lips to his stunned face. I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head. I'd freaked him out already.

"Really?" he asked incredulously.

_This is too easy_, I thought. "Well, actually, I think it might be something deeper than love. All I know for sure is that I plan to spend the rest of my life with you. We'll get married. We'll have babies. We'll never be apart. Did I ever mention I want 6 children? Because I do. And I want to get married as soon as possible. Preferably before the summer is over. Also, do you know of any houses for sale? We should start looking. Make sure there's room for a nursery because I want to start our family as soon as possible. And you get paid well for being in the pack right? I hope so because I really want to be a housewife. That'll work out right?" I looked at him expectantly, examining the look of shock on his face. My plan had worked. I completely freaked him out. Honestly I was surprised he wasn't out the front door yet, running as far away from the clingy psycho as possible. My mouth spread into a huge smile as he thought all of this over, a saddened expression forming on his face.

His reaction was anything but what I expected. "Why are you lying to me?" he asked me, with obvious hurt in his voice.

"What?" I asked, stunned.

"I know you're lying. Like I told you, I want to make you happy. And if that's what you really wanted, then I would want those things too. But I don't want to marry you. And I don't want to have children." I looked at him with pure shock in my eyes. "At least not yet," he qualified. "So it's obvious that you don't really want those things. So why did you lie and tell me you did?"

I looked down at the floor, trying to figure out what had just happened. He'd suddenly turned me into the liar when he was the one who went around 'imprinting' on people just to get in their pants. In the grand scheme of things I'd say what he does is worse. And yet I felt like I had betrayed him. I wanted to look up at him, but I kept my gaze down. He didn't deserve what I had just done to him. No one deserved to have their emotions toyed with, no matter the original intention.

He pulled my chin up to meet his gaze, and I saw the pain in his eyes. "Please, answer me," he implored in a whisper.

I sighed and knew I had to answer. I bit my lip and started explaining. "I wanted to freak you out a little bit. Just enough so that you would know it's not ok to play with someone's emotions like you did to me. But now I see that I tried to do the same thing to you, so I'm just as guilty." I expected him to 'forgive' me then restart his conquest but I was surprised again.

"When did I ever play with your emotions?" he asked with irritation.

Now _I_ was the one getting irritated. "Umm, today, when you said you imprinted on me. I know you only said that to try to get in my pants. And if I were another girl it probably would have worked. So I had to take a stand for girls everywhere."

His hands started shaking. I knew what that meant. He was about to phase. I jumped off the couch and opened the door, standing behind it as I waited for him to run outside. I heard footsteps coming toward me and was amazed to see Paul's arm reach out and pull the door back from me.

He was livid. "How dare you think I would use that as a line? Imprinting isn't a joke. And I would never phase when you were around. It's horrible that you would think I could lose control like that!" He grabbed me roughly, wrapping his hands around my upper arms, and looked me straight in the eye. "I will never hurt you," he growled.

I let all of this sink in. I couldn't believe it. "Imprinting is real?" I asked, eyes wide.

He rolled his head back in exasperation. "Yes! I would never lie about something like that. And just so you know, I don't lie to girls in general. It's just not my style."

I looked down again. I really had him pegged wrong. But how could imprinting be real? It seemed more like something that belonged in a book, rather than in real life. Then I also remembered that werewolves weren't supposed to exist either. That made me feel even worse.

I'd always known I was a 'see it to believe it' kind of person but I never realized I would take it this far. He told me the truth about being a wolf, and I didn't believe him. So he showed me. He told me the truth about imprinting, and I didn't believe him. Except he had no way to show me. There's no way to prove you're in love with some, except through time, which I hadn't given him.

There was only one way for me to get a real answer right now. I had to ask someone who had no incentive to lie. I wriggled out of Paul's grasp and walked back to Jake's room.

I threw open the door and found him just laning on his bed, no doubt moving quickly away from the door after eavesdropping. He smirked at Paul as he followed me through the door.

"Need something?" Jake asked me, keeping his eyes on Paul.

"Imprinting. Is it real? Yes or no?" I asked concisely. I didn't want to hear Jake's thoughts on the matter. I just wanted to know if Paul was telling the truth.

Jake let out a breath, and I knew he didn't want to answer. I braced myself, but I still wasn't prepared for his answer. "Yes, Rach. It's real."

I felt my knees give out as I started falling to the floor, fainting for a split second. Paul caught me easily, and Jake jumped off the bed to help. Paul gave him a dirty look, and Jake backed off as Paul scooped me into his arms and carried me into my room.

He laid me gently on my bed before sitting next to me, staring at the wall. This was going to be hard. I sat up and put a hand on his back. "Paul, I'm so sorry."

He just kept staring at the wall. I swung my legs off the bed so I was sitting next to him, and I took his hand in mine, observing the size difference between our hands. He locked his fingers around mine and started rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. I rested my head on his shoulder while he stared, waiting for him to say something.

I didn't understand why I was feeling this way at all. Fifteen minutes ago I hated Paul and hoped he ran from my house crying. Now all I wanted to do was keep him here with me. I hoped he wasn't trying to find the words to tell me he was leaving. I didn't think I would be able to stand that. We needed to work though this now. I decided to take the reins.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, turning my head up to look at him.

He finally tore his eyes away from the wall and smiled weakly. "You," he said, but not with the normal smile that followed. I'd really hurt him.

"God, Paul. I'm so sorry. I'm not good at this. Really, I'm not. I don't know how to respond when a normal guy likes me."

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I have this theory that I only attract guys that are horrible for me. So as a general rule, if they like me, there's something wrong with them. That's why I don't date," I explained.

He moved a hand to the side of my face, brushing the hair out of my eyes. "Well, there's your first problem. I'm not horrible for you. In fact, some would argue I'm perfect for you. That's what imprinting means." He stroked my cheek and touched his nose to mine. "And just so you know. When you said that you loved me earlier, you meant it."

"I know," I replied. "Actually, I knew I loved you this afternoon. I just forgot for a few hours." I leaned in to kiss him but he pulled away.

"Hmm, how can I keep you from forgetting again?" He moved a finger to his chin and tapped as if in deep thought. So he was going to play games now? I wasn't going to let this go on very long.

"Like this," I said with a whisper, pulling his arm down and attacking his lips. He chuckled and kissed me back, turning his body to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He pulled me onto his lap as he scooted back on the bed so he could lean against the head board.

I laid, cradled in his arms long after the kiss was broken. I stared up at his face while he stared down at mine. I felt my eyes getting heavy, but I wasn't ready to sleep yet. I didn't want to sleep ever again if that meant Paul was going to be away from me. Despite my best efforts, a yawn snuck through and Paul's eyes narrowed.

"Why did you tell me you were tired?" he accused.

I moved my hand up to rest on his cheek. "I didn't want you to leave."

He leaned forward and placed me on the bed, facing the window. He stood up, kissed me on the cheek and walked to the door, turning off the light. Was he even going to say goodnight, or just run out the door?

Suddenly he was back in the bed, lying down next to me. "I'll never leave if you don't want me to," he whispered in my ear before placing a kiss on my forehead. "Now, sleep," he commanded.

He pulled the blanket up to cover me and I snuggled into him as he wrapped his arms around me. I drifted off to sleep immediately.

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><p>Paul:<p>

I intended to sleep for about 6 hours and get back to Rachel by about eight. Unfortunately when the alarm on my phone went off at 7:30 I was in no mood to get up. I was in the middle of an amazing dream (centering on Rachel, surprise, surprise) so I threw the phone against the wall. Thankfully I'd gotten the 'durable' phone at the wireless store. I rolled over and went back to sleep for what I told myself was only going to be one more hour.

When I finally woke I was confused by the darkness. The sun didn't set until after 9 this time of year. It couldn't be too much after 8:30, right? I retrieved my phone from behind the couch and checked the time. Eleven? I'd slept two and half hours longer than I intended to. Rachel was probably in bed right now.

I rushed out of the house and over to Rachel's as fast as my truck would take me. I probably could have gotten there faster running, but I still wasn't in the mood to get tortured about imprinting. Those assholes would be lucky if I ever phased again.

I parked in front of the house and knocked on the door before letting myself in. I found Rachel and Jacob sitting on the couch watching TV. I smiled at Rachel, and she returned it warmly. I heard Jacob groan at his sister's excitement to see me. I smirked at him. This was something he'd just have to get used to.

She walked over to me and hugged me tightly. "How was your nap?" she asked.

I smiled at her as I let my hands drop to her waist. "The best one I've ever had," I said honestly.

"Why is that?" she asked with a smile.

I looked at Jacob before I answered. He wasn't going to like this, and I really didn't want more broken ribs, especially in front of Rachel. I looked back at her. "Because I dreamt about you," I said.

Jacob made a retching sound, and I hoped he was choking on something. No such luck. He stood from the couch and passed by us, staring me down. "I'll leave you two alone," he stated, and I knew full well that he would be listening in on every word.

As soon as he was gone Rachel, and I walked over to the couch and I put my arm around her as we sat. I turned off the TV so I had her full attention.

"How's it sinking in?" I asked as I took her hand in mine. I was nervous that she wasn't doing as well as she I thought. I knew she was good at putting up a brave front.

She smiled as she replied, "Ok, I think. I'm not running away screaming, so that's good right?"

I laughed. It was true. She was so much more laid-back about it than anyone else had been. "Yeah, that's progress. Actually I think you might be the first imprint to get a handle on it on the first day. I guess I got pretty lucky with you," I said as I leaned in close, our lips about to touch.

"I love you Paul," she said before brushing her lips on mine. I froze in my spot, eyes wide. She loved me. I knew it. I knew that earlier she was falling in love with me. And now, best of all, she knew it.

"Really?" I asked eagerly.

She smiled and started her explanation. "Well, actually, I think it might be something deeper than love. All I know for sure is that I plan to spend the rest of my life with you." I sighed. She was perfect. She continued, "We'll get married. We'll have babies. We'll never be apart." The lie detector in my head started going off. What was going on? Was she just saying these things because she thought that's what I wanted? I could wait until she was ready.

It was with her next sentence that I realized she wasn't doing this to help me; she was trying to hurt me. "Did I ever mention I want 6 children? Because I do. And I want to get married as soon as possible. Preferably before the summer is over. Also, do you know of any houses for sale? We should start looking. Make sure there's room for a nursery because I want to start our family as soon as possible. And you get paid well for being in the pack right? I hope so because I really want to be a housewife. That'll work out right?"

I couldn't believe she was saying these things. She obviously didn't want them, so why was she telling me that she did? The only explanation I could come up with was that she wanted to hurt me. She wouldn't do that right?

"Why are you lying to me?" I asked her.

"What?" She sounded shocked, like I shouldn't be able to tell when she's lying.

"I know you're lying. Like I told you, I want to make you happy. And if that's what you really wanted, then I would want those things too. But I don't want to marry you. And I don't want to have children, at least not yet," I explained, hoping that if she understood that I knew she was lying that she would be more likely to tell me the truth. "It's obvious that you don't really want those things. So why did you lie and tell me you did?"

She looked ashamed. She was flat out lying from the start. She never even had flashes of these feelings for me. I pulled her face up to meet mine. "Please answer me."

"I wanted to freak you out a little bit. Just enough so that you would know it's not ok to play with someone's emotions like you did to me. But now I see that I tried to do the same thing to you, so I'm just as guilty," she said, biting her lip.

I narrowed my eyes. She thought I was playing with her. "When did I ever play with your emotions?"

"Umm, today," she answered angrily. "When you said you imprinted on me. I know you only said that to try to get in my pants. And if I were another girl it probably would have worked. So I had to take a stand for girls everywhere."

What had I done to deserve this? She was playing with me like I was a fucking toy that didn't have any feelings. My hands started shaking but I got control of them quickly. Not quickly enough, as Rachel saw them and rushed to the door. She threw it open and hid behind it. I moved from irritated to pissed. She thought I would phase with her in the room? That would _never_ happen.

And she thought I made up imprinting just as an excuse to sleep with her? That just about pushed me over the edge. What kind of cynical person would think that true love would work as a line to get in someone's pants? Oh, that's right. My imprint. I shook my head as I walked over to the door and pulled it away from her.

"How dare you think I would use that as a line? Imprinting isn't a joke. And I would never phase when you were around. It's horrible that you would think I could lose control like that!"

I let the anger take over as I pulled her up to meet my eyes. "I will never hurt you," I said in a low voice, hoping she could hear the conviction.

Her eyes widened. "Imprinting is real?"

I could tell this was going to be a long night. "Yes!" I assured her. "I would never lie about something like that." Then I just had to let her know how badly her accusations hurt, "And just so you know, I don't lie to girls in general. It's just not my style."

She looked down at the floor again, and I knew I had taken it too far. I shouldn't have yelled at her. I shouldn't have rubbed it in her face that I don't lie. There was a long list of things I shouldn't have done that would have made this conversation go much more smoothly.

I saw a spark in her eye and she pushed away from me and walked down the hall. I followed, not sure what she was up to. She stopped at the door to Jacob's room and threw it open.

"Need something?" he asked her, keeping his eyes on me. He was just itching for an excuse to throw me out. I could feel it. I hoped he wasn't going to get the satisfaction.

Rachel bombarded him with her question, and I realized I should have brought Jacob into this a long time ago. He could have stood in the background, nodding his head, letting her know everything was true. He probably would have kicked the shit out of me.

"Imprinting. Is it real? Yes or no?" she asked. I liked that she didn't ask for his opinion, since I'm sure he wanted to give it to her.

He just nodded and said, "Yes, Rach. It's real."

I saw her move in front of me and suddenly she was falling. She fainted. I caught her before she hit the floor and sent a warning look to Jacob who was jumping off his bed. I could take care of her myself.

I pulled her up in my arms, treasuring the close proximity. I carried her into her room and set her on the bed. She appeared to be fine. I took a seat next to her and stared at the wall. I really didn't know how I was going to make it past this.

I felt her sit up as she put her hand on my lower back. "Paul, I'm so sorry," she whispered in my ear.

I didn't move my gaze. I didn't understand how she could treat me that way. Was she completely heartless? I loved her of course, but now I wasn't sure if she was even capable of loving me. My heart sunk.

She sat up next to me, swinging her legs next to mine, taking one of my hands. I laced our fingers together, wishing we fit together as well as our fingers did. She put her head on my shoulder, and I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around her, not knowing how she would react.

I didn't know if I would be able to take this torture forever. She would never fall in love with me. She would never appreciate me. She would be happy, but I knew that if we kept on this current course, her happiness would not trickle down to me. Her happiness would be my misery. I couldn't bear the thought of it.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked me.

"You," I replied, looking at her. I couldn't let her know what I was thinking. I would keep this to myself. She could never know that her happiness was causing me pain.

"God, Paul. I'm so sorry. I'm not good at this. Really, I'm not. I don't know how to respond when a normal guy likes me," she ranted.

My eyebrows pulled together. I had no idea what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"I have this theory that I only attract guys that are horrible for me. So as a general rule, if they like me, there's something wrong with them. That's why I don't date." She looked at me as if she were wishing I would agree with her. She wanted me to say that I was horrible for her so she could go back to her comfortable world where everything was predictable.

I found myself for a brief second jealous of Quil. He had it so easy imprinting on a two year old. Sure he has to wait for her to grow up but when she finally does there would be no baggage. No one will have broken her heart before he gets there. Oh man, he's going to get a kick out of that one.

But I was lucky too. She seemed truly remorseful for the way she had treated me. I needed to stop the pain that was running through her.

I brushed the hair out of her eyes and left my hand on her cheek. "Well, there's your first problem. I'm not horrible for you. In fact, some would argue I'm perfect for you. That's what imprinting means," I told her. I touched my nose to hers as I continued with something I hadn't realized until that very moment. I whispered, "And just so you know. When you said that you loved me earlier, you meant it." I stroked her cheek as she replied.

"I know…Actually, I knew I loved you this afternoon. I just forgot for a few hours," she said with a shy smile. I almost fainted. She knew without me having to show her. I smiled widely, knowing that we were going to be just fine.

She leaned in to kiss me but I pulled back. She wasn't going to get off that easily.

I stroked my chin like an evil professor, hatching my plan. "Hmm, how can I keep you from forgetting again?" I was thinking of different ways to make her say she loved me over and over again.

She wasn't going to wait. "Like this," she said, pulling my hand away from my face, kissing me. I chuckled. This was much better than any plan I was coming up with. I turned my body to her and pulled her on to my lap. I leaned back onto the headboard, cradling her as we kissed sweetly.

I pulled away just to stare at her and to my delight she was staring right back. I hoped this moment would never end. I kept running my hand through her hair, loving the feel between my fingers.

I was lost in her beauty when she yawned. I was keeping her awake. I looked at her sternly. "Why didn't you tell me you were tired?" It wasn't fair of me to keep her up when I had slept all day.

She moved a hand to my face. "I didn't want you to leave," she answered simply.

I smiled at her and moved her off of my lap, onto the bed. I kissed her on the cheek as I went to turn off the light. Once it was dark I moved back to the bed, crawling in behind her. Her startled jump was endearing. She wasn't expecting me to come back.

"I'll never leave if you don't want me to," I promised. I kissed forehead then said, "Now sleep."

I pulled a blanket to cover her and she nuzzled in close to me. I put my arms around her and sighed into her hair. "I love you Rachel."

She was already asleep.

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><p><strong>AN: Woohoo, they're in love! And sleeping together. (Actually sleeping, but still.) Think Jake is happy about this? Let me know!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Super long chapter this week. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did there were would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

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><p>Rachel:<p>

I woke up in a sweat. Paul was next to me on his stomach. I was lying on my back with his arm draped over my stomach. I could barely breathe. I shifted slightly, trying not to wake him. I took a deep breath and looked at the clock. It was nine o'clock.

I groaned internally as I thought of the eight hour drive I had ahead of me. I needed to leave by noon at the latest to make it back to school at a decent time. Not that I had any real desire to go back. I just didn't want to make it worse by having to drive in the dark.

As I shifted back into Paul, he tightened his arm around me. I glanced at his face. It was so peaceful as he slept. I sighed, knowing I would have to move soon and wake him. I wasn't going to leave him alone in the house with Jake. That was just inviting trouble.

I wasn't sure know how Paul was going to take me leaving. He'd said many times that he hated being apart from me, but I had to go back. I had two finals coming up, and I had to figure out what I was doing about grad school. I had been wavering back and forth about it for awhile, and the decision absolutely had to be made this week. I knew I had decided that I wasn't going back after my fight with Katie, but that was just in the heat of the moment. Now that I'd thought about it, I realized that I needed to base my decision on what _I_ wanted and nothing else. And I needed to make that decision sooner rather than later. If I was going to grad school, I had to put down my housing deposit for next year. If I didn't go, I needed to find a job and a place to live. I didn't think that grad school was going to do that much for my job potential, but I wasn't sure I wanted to take that chance. I had no idea what to do, and this new romance with Paul was a complicating factor.

I stared at him for as long as possible, but when it got to be ten I knew I had to get moving. I had to get all of my stuff together and get a shower, not to mention talk Jake into giving me some gas to get me to the gas station in Forks. I definitely rolled in on fumes the other day. I had to fold my laundry, and I was sure Dad would make me eat before I left. I needed to start now.

As much as it pained me to do so, I lifted Paul's arm off of me and placed it gently at his side as I attempted to exit the bed. He stirred slightly and opened his eyes to look at me, still half asleep.

"Running out on me?" he asked as he stretched and rolled onto his back. I smiled at him as he grabbed my hand, keeping me on the bed. "I don't think I can allow that."

I leaned in close. "If I was running, you'd catch me," I said, placing a kiss on his jaw line. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, attempting to bring my mouth to his.

I shook my head. "Morning breath," I explained.

He nodded, though I could tell me was disappointed. "When are you leaving?" he asked. He shifted so that I was lying on top of him with his arms wrapped tightly around me.

"Too soon," I said reluctantly. He pouted, and I couldn't help but smile. That was cute.

I couldn't resist any longer and I leaned in. I kissed him with the slow fire from last night, but it appeared Paul had different intentions. Instead of slow fire, I got raging inferno. His lips moved urgently against min,e and his tongue traced my bottom lip.

Paul's left hand was moving from my back to my hip when the door to my room flew open.

Jake was standing in the door looking livid. "Hands off," he warned, staring straight at Paul. Paul's hand stopped moving but didn't retreat to my back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked angrily. The location of Paul's hands was none of his business. Especially when he was drumming his fingers on my side like that. That could go on forever.

"I'm keeping you two from going at it like bunnies when I'm in the next room."

I sighed with irritation. "Jake we were not going at it like bunnies. As you can see," I said waving my hand between Paul and me, "we are fully clothed."

Jake's eyes narrowed. He addressed Paul. "Where's your shirt?" I vaguely remembered Paul pulling his shirt off in the middle of the night. I think he might have still been asleep because he muttered, "Too hot," threw his shirt off, then settled back into the bed as if nothing had happened. I wouldn't have known this at all except I woke up when he moved away from me to pull his shirt off. And it felt like forever until he moved back to me. Oh, man, I had it bad.

"Where's your shirt man?" Paul countered, raising an eyebrow as Jake's outfit. Cut-offs only, how typical.

"I'm not in bed with my sister," Jake stated before thinking.

Paul and I busted out laughing, and Jake gave us a dirty look. "That's not what I meant and you know it," he said through clenched teeth.

Then he had an idea. "Paul, I'm making a new rule." Paul groaned, and I had a feeling neither of us was going to like this rule. "I'm instituting Emily's Rule for Rachel too. Whenever you are with her you will always have a shirt on." Paul rolled his eyes. I had a better way to get back at Jake, since this rule was punishing me too.

"What if I take the shirt off of him?" I asked, innocently. Paul's eyes widened. I would need to tell him that I wasn't thinking of it in a sexual way; I just wanted to look at his abs. They were pretty impressive. Okay, I guess that was sort of sexual. I really had to stop this obsession before I took it too far. I had a feeling it was already too late.

"You won't," Jake said with narrowed eyes. "Because if Paul knows what's good for him, he won't let you." He turned his focus to Paul and glared.

Paul just scoffed. "You think I could stop her if she really wanted to?"

When Jake didn't answer, Paul continued. "I'll make you a deal. I will keep my shirt on as long as Rachel wants me to. That's all."

When Jake nodded he turned to look at me, expecting me to tell Paul to put his shirt on. I smirked as I looked into Paul's eyes. "You can keep your shirt off."

He smiled and brought his face up to kiss me quickly. I sighed and settled my head on his chest, looking at Jake who was rolling his eyes.

"You can leave now," I prompted him. "We'll be out in a few minutes."

"That's all it takes for Paul," Jake mumbled as he left room, closing the door behind him. With that remark I was reminded of a certain mechanical device that kept going as long as the batteries held out. I always made it a point to use lithium batteries. I smirked slightly at the thought.

"What's funny?" Paul asked.

Ooh. I so did not want to talk about this right now. Or ever really. Now that I was sort of in love with Paul, I really didn't want to tell him about my previous relationship with…ahem, Thor. It wasn't that I was embarrassed about it, I just knew that people's opinions of me always changed after they found out I kept a power tool in my bedroom.

I wasn't a whore, and I was pretty sure Paul already knew that. In fact, contrary to popular belief (including Becca), I was a still technically a virgin. I'd gotten close before, but I'd always felt like I wasn't ready. Unfortunately, even though but head wasn't ready, my body certainly was. That's where Thor came in quite useful.

I wasn't sure if Paul would understand. I mean, obviously I knew he would once I explained it to him, but I didn't want to have to explain. I just wasn't ready to have this conversation just yet, so I did what any normal person would do. I avoided the subject at all costs.

"Nothing," I said. "Just Jake being Jake." I leaned in and kissed him again, slowly. His hand picked up where it left off and kept drifting to my hip. It settled on the waistband of my shorts, and I groaned into his mouth. We had to stop if I was ever going to be able to leave.

I pulled back, and he looked disappointed. I didn't blame him; I was too.

"I really have to get ready to go," I said with regret.

He nodded, and I rolled off of him. I stood from the bed and stretched, cracking my back in several places. Paul did the same as he exited the bed, though his back cracked in quite a few more places. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Breakfast?" he asked me.

"Eh," I said shrugging my shoulders. "I don't really eat breakfast."

He gave me a smirk. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," he said with feigned importance.

I laughed. "I believe you. But I don't like breakfast foods."

He looked shocked. "I'll just have to change your mind then," he said, taking my hand.

He tried to pull me out of the room, but I didn't budge. "How about I get my stuff together then hit a drive thru on my way back?" I suggested. I knew he was hungry, but I wouldn't subject myself to breakfast foods. He could eat after I left. I shuddered to think of how lethargic I would be driving back with pancakes and sausage weighing me down.

Paul made a noise of disgust. Apparently he had a vendetta against fast food, though I doubted where his food came from really mattered to him most of the time.

"I really do like fast food," I assured him. And I guess I sort of did. Two or three times a year.

He nodded. "Ok, I guess. What can I help you do to get ready?" he asked.

I thought for a moment. There really wasn't a lot for me to do other than fold my laundry and get gas from Jake, and I didn't really want him to do either. I also had to shower, which I definitely didn't need his help with. Not that I didn't want it . . .

Wow, I needed get a grip. It had only been 12 hours.

I shook my head. "There's really nothing you can help with."

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Absolutely nothing?" he asked sweetly.

"Unless you want to get Jake to put some gas in my car then no," I said. He wouldn't want to do that. He couldn't be alone with Jake. Jake would almost certainly kill him.

Paul had an opposite reaction. His eyes lit up. "Don't worry. I'll get it taken care of," he said, kissing me on the cheek. "You take a shower and you'll be all ready to go by the time you're done." He darted out of the room, looking excited.

I really didn't understand what he was so excited about. Jake was never going to give him any gas. It would take me almost an hour to get it out of him, and I was his own flesh and blood. Did Paul really think he stood a chance? I probably shouldn't have let him go. One of them was bound to get injured. Severely.

I considered going outside to break up the inevitable fight, but I knew that sooner or later Paul and Jake were going to have to work out their differences. And Paul knew I wouldn't be happy if he hurt Jake too badly, so the only thing I had to worry about was Jake killing Paul. Which I didn't think he would do. Hopefully.

I sighed and walked into the bathroom. I turned on the faucet and climbed into the shower, allowing the hot water to beat on my skin. It felt so good to stand there and truly relax. I stayed in longer than usual, and the water started going cold. I turned to faucet off and wrapped a towel around me.

I stepped into the hall, checking for Paul. He wasn't in the hallway, and I didn't hear any crashing outside. I was pretty sure he and Jake weren't fighting, but in theory, one of them could be dead right now. I smirked a little then kicked myself for thinking the danger of my boyfriend killing my brother or vice versa was funny. I stopped walking abruptly.

Boyfriend? When had I decided that he was my boyfriend? I knew things were headed in that direction, but I was never the person who was interested in titles. I had never cared whether I was someone's girlfriend, or friend, or significant other. It never used to matter what we called each other. Now I was very excited about the word boyfriend. I shook my head and kept walking. What has happened to me?

I dressed quickly, then folded the rest of my laundry. I tossed a couple of odds and ends on top and hauled my basket out to the family room, dropping it on the coffee table. I turned to find Jake sitting at the kitchen table with cereal in a mixing bowl. He was glaring at Paul, who was sitting across from him.

My dad was pulling up to the table with a normal sized cereal bowl. "Are you going to eat anything?" he asked me.

I shook my head no. "You know I don't like breakfast. I'll just get McDonalds or something on the highway."

Jake opened his mouth to say something, forgetting he hadn't swallowed yet. His cereal fell out of his mouth and back into the bowl.

"Have I ever told you, you're a pig?" I asked Jake, handing him a napkin to wipe the milk off of his chin.

He glared at me as Paul snickered. I shot Paul a warning glance letting him know I didn't want him starting any fights. He looked down at the floor, and it was just about the cutest thing I ever saw. I smiled at him. He was really getting to me.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked me with a smile on his face. He was excited for me to leave? I thought me being gone would cause him physical pain. He was looking forward to that? This kid was sick.

I nodded and he smiled, grabbing my basket and leading me outside. I stopped to kiss my dad on the cheek.

"When will you be home again?" he asked me, eyes hopeful. I pretended not to notice his eagerness as he looked at Paul.

"I'm not sure," I told him. And I really wasn't. If I started grad school it would be awhile. If I decided against grad school then I would be home for good in a week. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Paul walked outside, passing my car and walking to his truck that was parked behind me. He pulled up the tarp in the bed of the truck and put my basket under it. I just stared at him with my mouth gaping, utterly confused.

"What do you think you're doing?" I blurted.

* * *

><p>Paul:<p>

I dreamed that I was in a furnace. I'd felt a strange pull to look inside the furnace, and I had fallen in head first. Though I knew I was trapped, I couldn't bring myself to be afraid. I felt the air getting hotter until I could barely breathe. I took deep breaths in and out, but it didn't do any good. I was going to suffocate if I didn't get out of here. I searched for a door or any other way to escape but it was only half hearted. I didn't want to get out. I wanted to stay in this furnace forever with the suffocating heat taking over me.

I suddenly found myself able to take a deep breath, and my eyes shot open. It had only been a dream. I glanced to my right and saw Rachel was still nuzzled next to me. She was the furnace. She was the one that was surrounding me with suffocating heat. I would gladly stop breathing if I could be around her forever. There was a simple solution to this problem however. I needed to take off my shirt. I just wasn't sure how willing I was to do it.

I wasn't sure what Rachel's reaction would be when she woke up and saw me shirtless. I didn't think she would mind, but I didn't know for sure. I didn't really want to risk moving too fast, but I was going to get heat stroke if I didn't do something soon. I couldn't remember the last time I'd slept with a shirt on. It had been even before I phased. It felt uncomfortable.

Finally I sighed, resigned. If I didn't take off my shirt, I wouldn't be able to stay in the bed. And I _really _wanted to stay in the bed. Breaking contact with Rachel to sit up was almost more painful than my dreamed suffocation. I ripped my shirt off quickly, mumbling 'too hot' before I settled back into my previous position. I closed my eyes and allowed my dreams to carry me off again.

My dreams shifted through the night, always of Rachel, but never lingering on one long enough for me to remember it. All I knew was that I was happy.

I was just starting another dream when I felt my arm moving. I fluttered my eyelids. I wasn't ready to wake up. I saw Rachel sitting up and knew she was intending on getting out of the bed. I wasn't sure if I could allow that just yet.

"Running out on me?" I asked her, putting my hand on her wrist. "I don't think I can allow that." I smirked at her, letting her know that it was way too soon for her to be moving. Unless she was moving toward me. That was acceptable at any time, day or night.

She leaned in to me, running her lips along my jaw line. "If I was running, you'd catch me," she said. I knew it was a big step for her, to admit that she didn't want to run away. I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her, ready for my good morning kiss. I was disappointed when she pulled away, claiming morning breath, but it didn't last long. Once she realized how quickly she was leaving, she didn't seem to be able to keep her mouth off of me. Yep, I was a stud.

I didn't want her to leave but I was excited to find out that she wasn't ready to go either. She started kissing me, slowly and sweetly. I wanted to prove to her that she didn't really want to leave. I wanted to make her think about staying.

I slipped my tongue out of my mouth and traced her bottom lip. God, she tasted so good. I found myself moving my hand from her back to her side. I worried that I was moving too fast for her, but she didn't seem to mind. I was about to rest my hand on her hips when Jacob burst through the door.

"Hands off," he growled at me. I stopped moving my hand, but I wasn't about to move it back. I could let him even consider that I would do what he told me to do just because Rachel was his sister.

I stared at him angrily, and to my surprise Rachel did too. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked him.

Jacob's eyes narrowed. "I'm keeping you two from going at it like bunnies when I'm in the next room."

I really hated him sometimes. He knew perfectly well that we weren't doing anything other than kissing . . . yet. But I'm sure I would have stopped it before it went too far. Pretty sure. Ok, I was just hoping I had that kind of self control.

Jacob's answer seemed to irritate Rachel. She waved a hand between us. "Jake, we are not going at it like bunnies. As you can see we are fully clothed," she pointed out. I really wished she hadn't said that, because technically I wasn't.

Jacob noticed this too. He stared me down. "Where's your shirt?"

I wasn't about to take this from him. "Where's your shirt man?" I asked. He wasn't wearing one either. So obviously he should understand that I was just doing what everyone else in the pack does. Avoiding wearing a shirt at all possible moments. However, since it was his sister he had a little bit of tunnel vision.

"I'm not in bed with my sister."

My mouth just hung open. Did he really just say that? Wow, he needed to start thinking before opening his mouth. I was going to make sure the pack would never let him live this down. Or at least torture him about it for quite a while.

I made the mistake of making eye contact with Rachel, and the look on her face sent me into fits of laughter. When we caught our breath, Jacob's hands were shaking. What a wuss he was. He curled his hands into fists and clenched his teeth.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." He glared at both of us and looked like he was about to leave. I could only hope. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky. His eyes lit up, and I knew I was in for it.

"Paul, I'm making a new rule," he stated. I groaned. I had an idea of where this was headed. "I'm instituting Emily's Rule for Rachel too." Ugh. He was such a bastard. "Whenever you are with her you will always have a shirt on." I rolled my eyes at him. This was ridiculous. I'm sure he didn't always wear a shirt when he was with vampire girl. I was about to point this out when Rachel interrupted.

"What if I take the shirt off of him?" she asked deviously. I raised my eyebrows at her. There would be nothing I could do if she wanted the shirt off of me. If it would make her happy I would streak across the rez. Plus, I hated wearing a shirt, so anything that got me out of one was fine with me. If I was desperate enough, I'd probably even let Jacob take my shirt off of me. I almost dry heaved at the thought. Maybe I'd better just stick to thinking about Rachel offering to remove articles of my clothing.

Jacob narrowed his eyes at her. "You won't. Because if Paul knows what's good for him, he won't let you." So he thought I should have been scared? I had news for him. For every minute I spent shirtless with Rachel he could break one of my ribs. It would be worth it. Although I kind of wished he wouldn't. A rib was one of the more painful bones to break, no matter how fast we healed.

"You think I could stop her if she really wanted to?" I asked him. I wasn't even speaking of her as my imprint, though that was a big part of it too. Rachel could be very persuasive when she wanted to be. I would never keep my shirt on long, even if I tried.

A light bulb went off in my head. I had a compromise that Jacob couldn't argue with. "I'll make you a deal. I will keep my shirt on as long as Rachel wants. That's all." That was the best I could do. He had to take it or leave it. But I wasn't going to say that out loud. I was too comfortable lying here with Rachel. I wasn't going to say that out loud either.

Jacob seemed to accept my plan and nodded his head. He looked at Rachel to hear her input on the subject. I could tell he was hoping she would be disgusted with my abs. I hoped she would disagree.

She looked me straight in the eye, completely ignoring Jacob as she said, "You can keep your shirt off."

I smiled at her and resisted the urge to send Jacob a smug look. I kissed her lightly and looked back to Jacob, hoping he would take the hint and leave. Either he was dense or he was just being an asshole, because he wasn't leaving. I was pretty sure it was a little of both.

Rachel stared at him for a few seconds before telling him to leave. "We'll be out in a few minutes," she said, though I wasn't sure if we really would. I hoped not. I could have stay here with her forever.

Jacob turned to leave, but not before mumbling, "That's all it takes for Paul."

He was such a douchebag. Like he had any idea how long it took for me. Even I didn't know. Though looking at her right now, I had a feeling it wouldn't be incredibly long. Was he trying to get Rachel to think I wasn't a virgin? Because honestly that would have been preferable. I was terrified of the eventual conversation that would end with me telling her I was a virgin, and her laughing in my face.

Apparently the laughing was starting now. She snickered slightly, but it wasn't the all out hilarity that I expected eventually. She just thought of something funny.

I wanted to know what it was. "What's funny?"

She thought for a second then just answered, "Nothing. Just Jake being Jake."

I started to consider this response, but then she kissed me again effectively ending my train of thought. I closed my eyes tightly, focusing on the feeling of her skin under my hand. I moved my hand that had been resting on her waist down to her hip, resting it on the waistband of her shorts. I was about to run my finger under the waistband, tracing it across her stomach but she groaned. And not in a good way.

She pulled back, and I pouted. "I really have to get ready to go."

I contemplated keeping her in the bed against her will but decided that probably wouldn't go over so well. I nodded at her, and she rolled off of me, standing up to stretch. I watched her extend her arms above her head, twisting side to side, allowing her back to crack. I smirked when I saw a sliver of stomach peeking out just below the hem of her shirt. She looked so beautiful.

I rolled of the bed as well and decided to show her how to really crack your back. I put both of my fists behind my back and leaned onto them, pushing up. My back cracked in quite a few places, and I felt so much better. She chuckled at me but she would have alignment issues too if she couldn't go to the chiropractor after turning into a giant wolf multiple times.

I smiled back at her. "Breakfast?" I asked. I was starving. Not that it was a new development or anything. I was always hungry.

"Eh, I don't really eat breakfast," she shrugged. I was mildly horrified. Who doesn't eat breakfast? Did she just not want to eat because she wanted to stay here forever? I could deal with that. But she still needed food.

I smirked at her. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," I informed her, crossing my arms across my chest, looking at her sternly.

She just laughed. "I believe you. But I don't like breakfast foods."

I was now completely horrified. Breakfast foods are the best out of all foods. Pancakes, French toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, hash browns, muffins, bagels . . . Ooh, I was getting hungry just thinking about eating.

I grabbed her hand, leading her out of the room. "I'll just have to change your mind then," I announced.

She didn't budge though. She really didn't want to eat. I needed to change her mind somehow. I needed to do anything to keep her here as long as possible. She was trying to hustle out the door as quickly as possible.

"How about I get my stuff together then hit a drive thru on my way back?" she proposed. I resisted the urge to dry heave. Fast food was just about the most disgusting thing in the world that was still technically considered food. I only ate it as an absolute last resort, but I didn't have occasion to eat it ever often. There weren't any fast food places in La Push, and I rarely went farther away than Forks, which was more than close enough to drive home to eat. Assuming I had any food in my cupboards. Which was pretty rare I guess.

She noticed my reaction. "I really do like fast food," she assured me. I didn't exactly believe her, but it was her stomach, not mine. Maybe I should pack some Tums for her. That would be very thoughtful of me, wouldn't it?

I nodded. "Ok, I guess. What can I help you do to get ready?" I asked. I didn't really want to do anything that made her leave more quickly, but I didn't think she would appreciate it if I tried to keep her here.

She thought for a moment then shrugged her shoulders. "There's really nothing you can help with."

I doubted that. Wasn't there something that she needed done? Honestly the only this she needed to do that I couldn't help with would be her shower. Though I could help her if she wanted . . .

Ok, can't think about that now. I'm sure there was something I could do. I raised my eyebrows. "Absolutely nothing?" I asked sweetly.

"Unless you want to get Jake to put some gas in my car then no," she informed me. Yeah, she was right. I didn't want to do that. Why didn't she have any gas in her car? I could give her some of mine.

Then an idea hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been trying to think of a way to keep Rachel here with me, but what was stopping me from going with her? I'd more than earned some time off after covering for Jacob for the last two months. I could go with her to Wazzu for a few days.

She said she only had a couple of finals to take before she was done right? I could help her study. Plus she had that ridiculous roommate situation to deal with. I could help her out with that, if only to keep her distracted.

I smiled to myself, hoping that she wouldn't shoot me down. And if I went with her I could make her stop and eat real food instead of letting her go through Burger King or something else equally horrifying.

"Don't worry. I'll get it taken care of," I informed her as I kissed her cheek. "You take a shower and you'll be all ready to go by the time you're done." I chose my words carefully, hoping to keep her in the dark as long as possible. I hoped my going with her would be a pleasant surprise. I exited the room quickly. I had a lot of things to do.

I walked past Jacob in the living room, not stopping to hear the speech I was sure he'd been planning. As I was walking out the door he called after me. "Did she kick you out?"

I turned back a little bit in the doorway and smirked. "You wish."

I chuckled as I walked away, getting into my truck. I would stop at home and pack up for the week, then I'd call Sam and let him know. I wasn't going to ask permission. This was non-negotiable. I'd covered for everyone. Now I was taking my turn. I just hoped he didn't get all Douchey Alpha on me and order me to stay. I narrowed my eyes just thinking about it. He wouldn't do that. At least he better not.

I pulled up to my house and jumped in the shower quickly. I was very proud of the fact that I could shower in less than 3 minutes. The rest of the guys could barely get it under 4. And yes, I was actually clean when I was finished.

I loaded all of my stuff in the back of my truck and pulled the tarp out, attaching it around the bed. I walked back into the house, grabbed a box of pop tarts and did a once over, seeing if I was forgetting anything. Then my eyes landed on something that would be more than a little important.

I tried to remember the last time my wallet had left my nightstand. It had been a couple of weeks at least. It would have sucked if I'd gotten all the way to Wazzu then forced Rachel to feed me for a week. The poor girl would go broke.

I picked it up and opened it, hoping I had some cash. I sighed in relief, silently thanking Embry for dragging me to the bank with him a couple of weeks ago. If he hadn't needed to make a deposit for his mom's store I wouldn't have had cent on me.

I grabbed my phone off of the counter and dialed Sam's number. I looked at the clock. It was 10:45. He'd better be up by now. I waited while it rang three times, and I was about to hang up. I'd go over to his house and leave him a note. He'd just have to deal with it since he couldn't be bothered to answer the phone. That was sounding like a great plan, and I was disappointed when he finally picked up the phone.

"What?" he answered angrily. He was pissed I'd woken him up. And I was about to make him even more pissed. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

"It's Paul. I just wanted to let you know that I'm driving Rachel back to Wazzu, and I'm going to stay with her for the week," I informed him all in one breath.

He sat in silence for a few seconds. "What?" he finally asked, confused.

"I'm going back with Rachel for the week. I think I deserve a week off."

He took in a sharp breath, and I knew he was planning his argument to keep me here. I couldn't allow that.

"Look Sam, I covered for Jacob for two months. I pick up extra shifts all the time. I was going to need a break eventually. I'm just taking it now."

He was silent a little while longer, and I hoped he was considering it. Finally he sighed. "All right. But you have one week. Next Monday you're pulling a double."

"Okay, I'll be back. Thanks, Sam."

"Yeah, yeah," was all I heard as I turned the phone off.

I was actually going to get to go with Rachel. I had honestly been expecting Sam to say no. I did my victory dance around my living room, ending it with a horrible imitation of the moonwalk. I made mental note never to do that in front of Rachel.

I got back into my truck and sped back to Rachel's. I parked behind her and strolled into the house, not even bothering to knock. Jacob was still sitting at the kitchen table, though now he had a giant bowl of cereal in front of him. The look that he gave me was nothing short of murderous.

Billy was just rolling in from down the hall. "Hello, Paul," he greeted me formally.

"Hi, Billy," I replied nervously. I glanced over at Jacob before I spoke again. "I guess you heard I imprinted on Rachel."

Billy nodded. "Yes, Jacob told me. I can't say that I'm happy about it, but if it will give Rachel a reason to come home more often then I guess it's okay."

I nodded. I knew if I kept quiet I would keep myself out of trouble. If Billy was willing to accept this without an explanation, then I was fine with that.

"However," he continued, and I knew I was screwed. "I don't want you sleeping in her bed. Last night was the only time until there is a ring on her finger." Damn.

I held my hands up in surrender. "I can only promise that I won't do anything that Rachel doesn't want me to. That will have to be good enough." I didn't like disobeying Billy, but he knew that his daughter had more authority over me than he did. She was the one who decided where I slept.

Billy contemplated it, and for a second I thought he was going to ram me with his wheelchair. "I don't like it, but my daughter is old enough to make her own decisions. But not under my roof," he stated sternly pointing his finger directly at me. I wouldn't argue that.

I nodded to him. "I'll do my best." Then I remembered I should probably ask his permission to spend the week with his daughter at school. Not that he really had any say over what she did at school. But I should probably ask anyway.

"I was just wondering, would you mind if I drove Rachel back to school? She's been having a hard time, and I thought having a familiar face might help her getting through finals a little easier," I asked, hoping he wouldn't object.

Jacob looked livid. "No, you are not going away for a week. You're just going to dump your patrols on the rest of us? What the hell man? What kind of loyalty is that?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Are you really one to talk about dumping patrols on people?" I asked.

He looked at the ground. He knew he had no right to talk. And unlike him, I had a specific return date.

Billy was still contemplating. I decided to add on an incentive. "When I'm there, I'll do my best to talk her into coming home after graduation instead of going to grad school," I told him seriously.

He nodded, smiling. "Now that's an arrangement I can live with," he said with a chuckle. "You can go with her as long as she comes back with you at the end of the week."

I smiled at him. I was pretty sure that I would be able to accomplish this. Hopefully. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk Rachel into anything she didn't want to do, but she was already wavering on the idea. I just hoped to give her a nudge in the direction I wanted her to go.

I looked at Jacob with a smile and sat down at the table to wait for Rachel.

After a few minutes she walked out from her room and dumped her folded laundry on the coffee table. She turned to face us and my heart swelled. She was so beautiful.

"Are you going to eat anything?" Billy asked her. I wished she would, but she was already shaking her head.

"You know I don't like breakfast. I'll just get McDonalds or something on the highway," she said. I groaned inwardly. There was no way we were stopping at McDonalds unless it was the last restaurant on Earth.

Jacob opened his mouth to say something, no doubt obnoxious towards me, but hadn't quite finished everything he'd been eating. Some half-chewed cereal dribbled down his chin and onto the table.

I smirked as Rachel handed him a napkin. "Have I ever told you, you're a pig?" she asked him.

I snickered slightly and Rachel gave me a look. I knew I couldn't start anything with Jacob, but he was making it too easy. I looked down at the floor, embarrassed she had caught me acting anything less than gentlemanly.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked her. Now that I was driving, I was in a hurry to get out of here. I wanted to get there before dark.

She nodded, and I grabbed her basket off of the coffee table, leading the way outside. She stopped to kiss Billy goodbye, and he asked her when she would be home again. I was glad he didn't say anything about expecting her home next week. That would make it all the harder for me to casually talk Rachel into coming home.

She said she wasn't sure. If she had decided on going to grad school, she would have said Christmas. Her uncertainty made it clear that she was still on the fence about grad school. I smiled to myself. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as I thought it was going to be.

When she rejoined me, I walked outside, passing her car and placing her basket in the back of my truck. I was about to walk around the truck to open the door for her, when I caught sight of her face. She locked completely and totally shocked.

"What do you think you're doing?" she practically yelled.

Maybe I should have talked about this with her first. Yeah, that probably would have been a good idea.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who's stuck with things this far. I hope you're enjoying it! Some decisions get made this chapter, so things are progressing nicely.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did there would be a lot more werewolves and lot fewer vampires.**

* * *

><p>Rachel:<p>

What the hell was he doing? Did he honestly think that making me drive his truck back to school was the same as putting gas in my car? He was out of his mind. I hated driving trucks. They were hard to handle and gas hogs. I couldn't afford to fill his tank, especially with gas prices what they are right now. He's out of his mind.

He gave me an innocent look. "I'm just getting you all packed up to go," he told me, covering my basket with the tarp.

I was angry that he wasn't even giving me a choice in this. "I'm not driving that thing," I informed him.

He did even look slightly phased. "Of course not," he said. "I'll be driving."

I raised my eyebrows at him. He was going to be driving? He was driving me back to school? This was stupid.

I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. "That's very nice of you, but you don't have to do that. I'll make it back just fine." I kissed him lightly, hoping to change his mind. I used my driving time to think, something that I had a hard time doing in his presence. I had planned to use this trip to think about my relationship with Paul and make a decision about grad school. I couldn't do that with him there.

"I know you will, I just want to spend more time with you," he said, bringing a hand up to my cheek.

I nodded. I could certainly understand that. I didn't want to leave him just yet either, but was driving to Wazzu and back really worth it? I didn't think so. Though I guess I couldn't really see things from his point of view. I wouldn't be in physical pain driving away from him. Just emotional pain. I could handle emotional pain. I'd been suppressing it for years from various sources. This just presented another one.

"I just don't want you to have to drive that far. You won't make it back until practically tomorrow morning," I tried to warn him. I didn't want him falling asleep at the wheel. I would feel so guilty if he got hurt just because he wanted to be with me a little while longer.

He started chuckling and dropped his gaze to the ground. He brought his eyes back up to me with a smile. "Rachel, I'm not driving straight back. I'm going to stay with you this week."

He was staying with me? Where did he think he was going to be sleeping? Because I definitely only had a twin bed, and we were not both going to fit on there. And what was he going to do? I had two finals this week that I had to study for. I couldn't have him there distracting me. Not that I wouldn't need study breaks occasionally, I just didn't want my entire week to be a study break. I had to pass both of these exams to graduate. If I didn't then I would automatically be back in the fall, still an undergrad. I shuddered at the thought. I really didn't want that.

I looked at him, biting my lip. "I don't know."

He smirked at me. Apparently he disagreed. And when he looked at me like that, I did too. He could come, right? He'd be good company in the car. He would stay out of my way when I had to study. Hell, I could probably even talk him into helping me study. I wouldn't mind trying to sleep in the same bed, and if we didn't succeed my futon was still very comfortable.

I was going through all of these options in my mind when I came across another bonus to having him come with me this week. He'd be able to help me move home if at the end of the week. I'd been worrying about how exactly I was going to make everything fit it my tiny little car. I probably would have had to rent a U-Haul and pack it myself. Now that Paul was coming, I could put him work.

As I smirked at this I realized that while I was making plans for Paul to help move me home, I had decided that I was going to be moving home. Where had that come from? I'd been on the fence about grad school for weeks. And now suddenly I had no reservations about moving home next week. I knew Paul had something to do with that. I just wasn't sure if I was completely okay with that.

I'd always promised myself that I would never do something just because of a guy. And now I'd been sort-of-dating Paul for roughly 12 hours, and I'd already made the biggest decision of my adult life. Maybe I needed some space away from him.

I looked at him. He was waiting for me to say something. I didn't know what to say. I put my hand on his stomach as I tried to let him down as diplomatically as possible. "I'm not sure if that's the best idea."

He shook his head at me. "I thought you'd say that. But can I just tell you why?"

I nodded. Hard as I tried I couldn't come up with a reason that made the pros outweigh the cons. I doubted he would give me anything new.

He did. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to help you get through your tough time with Katie. You need to focus on your finals, and it's going to be pretty hard if you have to deal with the fall out from your fight all week. I'll help you talk to her if you want. I'll keep her away from you. Hell, I'll toss her out a fifth story window if you ask me to," he promised.

I chuckled, knowing that even if I did ask him he wouldn't do it. He didn't the capacity to harm someone so maliciously. I honestly hadn't thought about Katie at all since yesterday. I'd been too caught up in my confusion over Paul to even remember my issues with Katie. The prospect of having to deal with her hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't face her alone. I was starting to panic. I needed help. And Paul was offering it. I couldn't turn it down.

"Okay," I agreed.

He looked at me skeptically. "Okay? Really?" He was waiting for me to confirm my approval.

"Yes. Paul, will you drive me back to school?" I asked, hoping that he would realize that I wasn't just granting his wish to go, but that I wanted him to go too.

He smiled widely and kissed me. He took my hand and walked me over to the passenger side of the truck, opening the door for me. I got into the cab and settled in as Paul walked around to the driver's side.

He got in and started the engine. "Ready to go?" he asked me with an easy smile.

"As ready as I ever am to spend 8 straight hours in the car," I grumbled.

He started backing out of the driveway and turned his head to look at me. "Now what kind of an attitude is that at the start of the trip?" he inquired, still smirking.

"A perfectly acceptable one," I countered. "I just don't like sitting in the same position for so long. My back gets stiff." I could tell from the smirk on his face that he wasn't feeling any sympathy. "Also," I added. "I'm at high risk for developing a deadly blood clot from sitting for extended periods of time," I shared.

"Oh really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't believe me?

"It's true," I assured him with fake sincerity. "Women on birth control are much more likely to have pulmonary embolisms."

He looked at me with surprise. Did I really just tell him I was on birth control? I re-ran the conversation in my mind. I had. Shit. And it sounded like the only reason I brought it up was so that I could tell him I was on birth control. What the hell was wrong with me? I needed to get over this comfortable feeling before I told him something really embarrassing. Though I was fairly certain that was an impossibility. Especially since we weren't even out of La Push before I put my foot in my mouth the first time.

I shrank lower into my seat and put my feet up on the dashboard. I didn't even want to think about the horrible things that would come out of my mouth in the next 8 hours.

What was I thinking? I'm pretty sure my brain decided to stop functioning the second I opened my mouth. Now I sounded like a whore. I was going to have to set the record straight soon. I fought the urge to dry heave at the thought of casually discussing my sexual history (or lack thereof) with Paul.

I wouldn't have had to if would've kept my big mouth shut. But no. I had to tell Paul that I'm on birth control. Which meant that I was also going to have to explain why. Was there a tactful way to say 'cramps from hell'? This was a nightmare.

I sank down further into my seat and stared out the window. Maybe he hadn't noticed or didn't think anything of it. I snuck a glance over at him, and he was staring at me with a smirk on his face. He was spending more time watching me than the road. That wasn't safe.

"Could you watch the road please?" I asked irritably.

"Do you have something you want to talk about?" he asked me, still not looking at the road.

"Not as much as I want to survive this trip," I growled, pointing for him to keep his eyes on the road.

He rolled his eyes and focused straight ahead. After a few seconds he glanced over at me. He took my hand in his, and I fought the urge to pull away. After that horribly awkward comment, I was content to curl up into a ball and hide for about a week or so. Apparently Paul didn't feel the same way.

I smiled at him nervously, biting my lip. "I'm sorry," I apologized. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

He brought my hand up and kissed the back of it. "It's okay. We'll talk when you're ready."

I groaned.

"What's wrong," he asked, his voice filled with concern.

I shook my head. "It's nothing really. I'm just pretty sure I won't be ready to have that discussion for awhile."

He smirked at me. "Can I ask why?"

I sighed. This was going to lead into the topic I was avoiding. But he deserved to at least know what the problem was. "I'm just not ready to talk about it," I hedged.

He wasn't having it though. "Will you at least tell me what we're not talking about?"

I looked at him like he had two heads. Was he really going to make me say it? I looked at the floor, closed my eyes, and whispered as quietly as possible. "Sex," I said with disgust.

"Oh," he breathed, turning back the road willingly.

I'd done it. I'd finally scared him off. My inability to open up about difficult subjects had come back to bite me in the ass once again. I shook my head and tried to pull my hand out of Paul's. It had to be making him uncomfortable.

He didn't release my hand though. If anything he held on tighter. I sat, staring at him, waiting for him to say something.

After what felt like an eternity he finally spoke. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I don't want to have sex with you."

What? I was shocked. I dropped my gaze. He didn't want me. I knew this was too good to be true. He had reconsidered and decided that he just wanted to be friends. I couldn't say that I didn't understand. I had so many issues and so much baggage it was easy to see why he wouldn't want to get too close to me. It just hurt. Before I could stop it, a tear slid down my cheek. I tried to wipe it away but Paul saw and pulled off on the side of the road.

He threw it into park and turned his entire body to face me. He wrapped his arms around me and turned my face up to his. "Look at me," he requested. I obliged, allowed a few more tears to fall as I moved.

"I said don't take it the wrong way," he said with a wry chuckle. I looked down again. If he was going to make fun of me, I didn't need to watch him do it. He put his finger under my chin and tilted my face up again. "Rachel, you're gorgeous," he said, pushing a lock of hair behind my ear. "I love you. I want to make love to you. But not yet."

I sniffed as I stared into his eyes. "Why not?" I asked, pouting.

He smirked again. "Because you're not ready and neither am I. But trust me, when we are, you'd better watch out," he said with a glint in his eye.

I laughed and kissed him. "Thank you," I whispered, putting my head on his shoulder.

He wasn't ready either. That steadied my nerves greatly. I wanted to ask all sorts of questions, but I knew that I had no business asking my questions if I wouldn't answer his. I'd have to wait until I was ready to talk about this before I could hear why he wasn't ready.

He kissed my hair then inhaled deeply. "I don't know why you're so worried about it. It's not like we're official or anything," he said, more casually than necessary.

I smirked into his shoulder. That's what he was getting at.

"That's true. We're not," I mused.

"Would you like to be?" he whispered. I looked at him and his intensity sent shivers down my spine.

"Would I like to be what?" I asked, dragging this out as long as possible. I wanted to hear him say it.

He smirked. "Would you like to be my girlfriend?" he asked, running his fingers through my hair.

I contemplated it for a second. I'd already told Paul that I loved him, and I had meant it. 'Girlfriend' didn't seem to be enough to describe what we had between us. But then again, I didn't want him going around calling me his imprint either. That would be awkward trying to explain to most people.

"Do we have to label it at all?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Not if you don't want to, I guess." He didn't seem too enthused about it though.

I needed to try to explain. "It's just that 'girlfriend' doesn't seem like enough, you know?"

He breathed out a sigh of relief. "I get that, I really do. But we're not quite ready for fiance, wouldn't you agree?" he asked with a smirk.

I smirked back at him. "Yeah, we're totally not there yet."

"So that leaves the question, what am I going to call you? Do you want to be introduced as 'my friend, Rachel'?"

I thought about that for a second. Just because girlfriend didn't fit us 100%, didn't mean that I was content just being called 'friend'. We were so much more than friends.

"Okay, Paul. I'll be your girlfriend," I said.

His smile was blinding. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asked.

I nodded as I brought my lips to his. "Once or twice."

* * *

><p>Paul:<p>

She was mad. I'd expected this right? Okay, not really, but I could deal with this. I just had to show her why it was a good idea for me to go with her. I guess. I wasn't really sure how to go about it. I settled for just answering her question.

"I'm just getting you all packed up to go," I informed her, still placing the basket in the bed of truck. I covered it with the tarp and looked back at her. She looked disgusted.

"I'm not driving that thing," she sneered. Like I would let her drive Lucille. Especially after insulting her like that. I was going to have to give Rachel a lesson in manners to my truck. Lucille was very sensitive and didn't like being called names, especially 'that thing'.

"Of course not. I'll be driving," I told her. She wasn't getting near the driver's seat. She was going to study the whole drive back so that she could take a night off this week. We could go on a date. I already couldn't wait. I was glad I grabbed long pants when I was home.

She still wasn't letting it go though. She came over to me and put her arms around my waist. I couldn't complain about that, anytime she wanted to touch me was more than all right with me. "That's very nice of you, but you don't have to do that. I'll make it back just fine."

She leaned up to brush her lips on mine, and it took quite a bit of self-control not to bow down to her wish right then so I could keep kissing her forever. But I could kiss her all week if she would just get in the freaking truck.

I moved a hand up to cup the side of her face. I smiled, reveling in the deepness of her eyes. I almost for got what I wanted to say. "I know you will, I just want to spend more time with you."

I still hadn't technically broached the subject of staying with her for the week but I felt it coming up shortly. Maybe she would figure it out on her own. She was a smart girl. I was still unsure of her reaction. More than anything in the world I wanted her to say yes, but she had many good reasons to say no. I just hoped that she wouldn't be able to think of them.

"I just don't want you to have to drive that far. You won't make it back until practically tomorrow morning," she explained. I chuckled as I realized she was concerned for my safety. That was so sweet of her. She really did love me. I fought the urge to sigh. That would have been a little girly.

I looked to the ground, hoping my explanation would help her understand my previous chuckle. I looked straight into her eyes and told her what we were going to do. I didn't give her an option because that left room for her to say no. And I really didn't want her to say no.

"Rachel, I'm not driving straight back. I'm going to stay with you this week."

Her eyes widened, and I realized I'd shocked her quite a bit. She hadn't been expecting this. What if she blurted out 'no' with even thinking about it? That would be painful. I needed her to think this through. It appeared that she was, though I hoped she wouldn't think for too long. There was such as thing as over-thinking. I'd never run across that problem personally, but apparently it's a common affliction among those who choose to go on to higher education.

She bit her lip, looking torn. I could work with torn. "I don't know," she told me.

I lifted up the corner of my mouth in a slight smirk. I wanted to let her know that I thought it was a very good idea, not only for me but for her also. For us, as a couple. If we spent the week together, there was a very good chance we would be coming home as boyfriend and girlfriend. I beamed at the thought of introducing Rachel as my girlfriend, though that word didn't seem to cover my feelings for her. Still, it would be awkward to introduce her at parties as my soul mate.

'Hi, Grandma, I haven't seen you in a while. I just wanted to introduce you to the reason that I breathe.' That would probably embarrass Rach just a little bit. I figured we'd just stick with girlfriend until it switched over to fiancé.

My knees almost gave out when I thought about proposing. Just the promise of one day being married to Rachel would make me happier than I had ever been in my entire life. I couldn't wait. I had to start planning now. It had to be perfect.

I was standing there with a sappy, dopey grin on my face when Rachel stepped close into my chest and put a hand on my stomach. My abs tightened, and it was hard to focus on what she was saying.

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea," she said. Or something along those lines. I really couldn't be absolutely certain. Her hand was tracing shapes on my stomach while I was working so hard to stay upright.

I shook my head trying to clear it. "I thought you'd say that. But can I just tell you why?" I hoped she would give me the chance to explain.

She nodded giving me permission to start my argument. I thought for a quick moment of how I wanted to go about this. There were so many reasons why I thought I should go with her, but I needed to pick the one that she would be most appreciative for. A reason why, if we had been seeing each other longer, she may have asked me to come.

And I knew exactly what to say. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to help you get through your tough time with Katie. You need to focus on your finals, and it's going to be pretty hard if you have to deal with the fall out from your fight all week. I'll help you talk to her if you want. I'll keep her away from you. Hell, I'll toss her out a fifth story window if you ask me to," I promised.

She laughed out loud, and I knew that I was in. She wouldn't make me stay now. Would she?

"Okay," she agreed with a smile.

Was she sure? I couldn't tell. "Okay? Really?" I asked. I wanted to make sure that she was doing this out of some strange sense of obligation.

"Yes. Paul, will you drive me back to school?" she asked. I smiled. I loved that she was asking me to drive her now. She wanted me to go, she was just afraid of what it would mean. I was too, but there was no way around it. We belonged together. I sighed just thinking about it. I couldn't stop myself, not matter how much it made me look like a pussy.

I kissed her quickly then walked her over to the passenger side of my truck. I opened the door for her and closed it behind her. I walked around to the driver's side and climbed in, starting the engine.

I looked her to her with a smile. "Ready to go?"

As I saw the look on her face, I could tell that her mood had flipped completely in the last ten seconds. She gave me what could only be described as a dirty look as she grumbled, "As ready as I ever am to spend 8 hours in the car."

What had brought this on? If I didn't know any better I would have thought this girl was bipolar. She was kissing me and practically begging me (okay, not begging but close enough in my warped view of it) to drive her back to school, and now she was treating me like I was dragging her back against her will.

"Now what kind of an attitude is that at the start of the trip?" I asked with a smile, keeping the mood light.

"A perfectly acceptable one," she answered, still sulking. Then she started whining. "I just don't like sitting in the same position for so long. My back gets stiff." Was she really going there? Who was the one who decided to go to school so far away in the first place? Because if I'd had a say she wouldn't have gone away at all.

I was enjoying this ranting far too much, and she was about to start with another. I hoped it would be just as amusing as the last one. "Also, I'm at high risk for developing a deadly blood clot from sitting for extended periods of time," she said seriously.

"Oh really?" I asked. I was pretty sure she was bullshitting me but you never know for sure. I wasn't nearly prepared enough for her answer.

"It's true. Women on birth control are much more likely to have pulmonary embolisms," she shared as though it was completely normal to be telling me about her contraceptive status.

I raised my eyebrows as I stared at her. Why did she tell me that? Was she trying to tell me something, or did it just slip out? I couldn't be sure. It didn't seem like something she'd planned, but was there any other reason for her to bring up this subject at all? I didn't think so. So she'd just told me she was on birth control. There was really only one reason a girl told a guy she was dating that she was on birth control.

A smirk spread across my face. This was going to be an interesting ride back.

She sank down into the seat, obviously embarrassed. Maybe she hadn't meant to tell me that. It looked like she just had a temporary case of verbal diarrhea. I stared at her, still smirking. If it was possible, her verbal incontinence just made me love her more.

She glanced over at me, looking irritated. "Could you watch the road please?"

She was avoiding something now. "Do you have something you want to talk about?"

"Not as much as I want to survive this trip," she grimaced, throwing her hand in the direction of the road.

Like we would actually crash. I was kind of annoyed that she had such little faith in my wolf-like reflexes. Well, not even wolf-like, actual wolf. I fought the urge to chuckle at my bad joke, knowing that she wouldn't appreciate it very much.

I turned my attention to the road and found it extremely boring. Rachel was so much more interesting to look at. I grabbed her hand in mine, reassuring her that she could talk to me.

I didn't have to wait long before she spoke up. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you," she apologized.

I kissed the back of her hand. "We'll talk when you're ready," I assured her. I wasn't going to talk about anything that reason wasn't ready for. Especially when just thinking about it put her in a bad mood like this.

She groaned and I didn't catch on at first. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing really," she said, shaking her head. "I just pretty sure I won't be ready to have that discussion for awhile."

What discussion? I just wanted to know why she was in a bad mood. What was there to discuss about it?

"Can I ask why?" I nudged.

She sighed and I became even more concerned. What was she avoiding?

"I'm just not ready to talk about it." She was evading my questions.

I was getting tired of this. "Will you at least tell me what we're not talking about?"

She stared at me like I was crazy. Was it so unreasonable for me to want her to tell me what was wrong? I didn't think it was.

She looked at the floor as she whispered her answer. "Sex," she stated simply.

"Oh," I breathed. That was not the answer I was expecting. I could see how her train of thought had taken her there, but I wasn't ready to have this discussion either. Well, I guess we could talk about it, but I knew it was extremely uncomfortable for her. A fact that would only be complicated by my inexplicable knowledge of Thor. I wanted to hold off on this conversation for as long as possible.

Apparently I'd taken too long to think about this when she tried to pry her hand away from mine. I wasn't about to allow that to happen. I held on tighter as I tried to pull my thoughts together into a coherent idea.

I knew I had to say something soon but I wasn't sure what. Finally I settled on the most straight forward explanation. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I don't want to have sex with you."

I tried to smile at her, but she was already staring at the floor. I didn't understand what was wrong until I saw a tear falling down her cheek. She thought I was rejecting her. I'd put my goddamn foot in my mouth.

I swerved over to the shoulder and threw the truck in park harder than I should have. I turned to face her and pulled her into my arms. I brought her face up to mine but her eyes didn't move.

"Look at me," I implored. She obeyed, and I saw more tears fall.

I smiled at her. "I said don't take it the wrong way." She looked at the floor again, and I knew that joking was not helping. I brought her face back to mine again. I needed to explain to her just how much I loved her. "Rachel, you're gorgeous. I love you. I want to make love to you. But not yet," I qualified.

"Why not?" I still didn't have her convinced.

I was going to have to spell it out for her, wasn't I? "Because you're not ready, and neither am I. But trust me, when we are, you'd better watch out," I promised with a wink.

She laughed and brought her lips to mine. She whispered her thanks and rested her head on my shoulder.

I inhaled the scent of her hair and thought about our conversation. She was thinking about sex already? We hadn't even been together a full day. We weren't even officially dating yet, and she was all concerned that I was expecting things from her already.

I knew what I had to do now. "I don't know why you're so worried about it. It's not like we're official or anything."

"That's true. We're not," she considered.

I stared at her intently, willing her to look at me. This was the most important question I'd ever asked. "Would you like to be?" I whispered.

"Would I like to be what?" she asked with a smirk. She was playing dumb and making me ask her properly. I could do that.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

She looked at me long and hard before she responded. I was starting to get nervous that she was going to turn me down.

Finally, she put me out of my misery. At least partially.

"Do we have to label it at all?" she asked, almost meekly.

I just shrugged. As much as I wanted to call her my girlfriend, I wasn't going to force her into something she wasn't ready for. Then she went on to explain.

"It's just that _girlfriend_ doesn't seem like enough, you know?"

I did know. I knew better than she did, but it was good that she felt it too.

"I get that," I replied. "I really do. But we're not quite ready for fiancé, wouldn't you agree?" I asked with a playful smirk.

She smirked back, but I could tell there was mild horror under her features at the mention of _fiancé_. I had to get this conversation back on track.

"So that leave the question, what am I going to call you? Do you want to be introduced as 'my friend, Rachel'?" I asked, trying to show her the other side of the coin.

The look on her face told me everything I needed to know. As much as I wanted to claim her, she wanted to claim me, too. Nothing could have made me happier.

"Okay, Paul. I'll be your girlfriend," she said.

I wrapped her more tightly in my arms and smiled widely. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

She smiled as she kissed me. "Once or twice."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: It appears this story is finally starting to catch on. Woohoo. Thanks to everyone that has been reading and reviewing and alerting and favoriting. It really means a lot. **

**Hope everyone enjoys this chapter. There's some humor, there's some seriousness, and there's some progression of the relationship. Something for everyone.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

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><p>Rachel:<p>

Paul started the truck again and pulled back onto the road. We were about a five miles outside of Port Angeles.

"Do you want to stop for food now?" he asked, looking hopeful.

I nodded. He was probably starving. I wasn't especially hungry, but if I ate now I could study the rest of the way back without my stomach to distract me. As I was deciding what to study first I gasped. I hadn't grabbed my backpack out of my car. It was still in La Push.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked with concern.

"I left my backpack in my car. I need it. We have to turn around," I informed him as we were pulling into the restaurant. He looked pained, staring wistfully at the patrons eating in the diner.

"Let's go eat," he said suddenly. I started shaking my head, but he cut me off. "Let's eat, and your bag will be here by the time we're finished," he promised.

I looked at him skeptically. I decided to give him a chance. "Okay," I allowed. "But if my books aren't here, we are going back to La Push, and I will be driving myself back."

That seemed like adequate punishment for making a promise he couldn't keep. He looked at the ground, absolutely crestfallen. Did he think I had no faith in him? Or that I was looking for a way out of him coming with me?

I took his hand in mine trying to reassure him. I brought my other hand to his cheek as I comforted him. "I was just teasing," I said softly. "You know that I want you to come with me."

He eyed me doubtfully. He would need more convincing. I kissed him lightly then opened my door. "Do whatever you need to do to get my bag here, then come inside and eat. I know you're hungry."

I walked into the diner and took a seat at the counter. I pulled out a menu and scanned my options. Fried chicken, fried fish, fried mushrooms? Was there anything on this menu not fried? I wasn't health freak or anything, but whenever I ate something fried I could practically feel my arteries clogging. I tried to avoid that feeling as much as possible.

I finally decided on the BLT as Paul sat down beside me. He sat his phone on the counter, and I raised my eyebrows at him.

"It'll be here," he promised as he picked up his menu.

That waitress came over to take our order, and I ordered my BLT and a coke. I turned down the fries that came with the sandwich. Paul looked shocked and told the waitress he would take my fries for himself. Then he ordered enough food for a small army. I thought the waitress would get writer's cramp from everything that he ordered. A hamburger, chicken fingers, a large order of fries (on top of the ones he was stealing from me), onion rings, a ham and cheese melt, and a chocolate milkshake. The waitress raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. She probably thought he had the munchies.

I laughed at that thought. "What?" he asked.

I just shook my head. "Nothing, I'm just pretty sure the waitress thinks you're on drugs."

"And why would I be on drugs?"

"Because you're eating like you have a serious case of the munchies."

He smiled at that. "I should bring all the guys up here. They'd probably call the cops on us," he laughed.

I couldn't help but smile. That would be an interesting image. The guys all sitting around a table with four plates in front of each of them then the cops busting in with guns blazing. I could just image Charlie Swan yelling, 'Drop that sandwich!' That would be hilarious.

He smiled at me and took my hand in his. He squeezed it and I could feel my heart warmed. If felt so good to be loved. He leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my head away. I didn't like PDA. It was obnoxious to the other people around you. Instead, I changed the subject.

"Tell me something interesting," I prompted him, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb.

"Like what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Something about you that I don't know yet."

He looked thoughtful as he contemplated what to tell me. He was really wracking his brain for information. Finally it looked like the light bulb went off.

"I've always wanted to go to Alaska and live off the land for awhile."

I furrowed my eyebrows. That was completely random. I just wanted to know about his family or friends. Something normal like that. This was out of left field.

"Really?" I asked. "Why?"

"Have you ever heard of Into the Wild?" he asked.

I nodded. I knew the basic story of it. A kid renounced society and went to live in the Alaskan wilderness and ended up starving to death. What the hell was he talking about that for?

"I want to do something like that. There's something very noble about what he did. To give up everything and try to make it all on his own. He wasn't going to take the comfortable road and do what people expected of him. He did what he wanted and I admire him."

I tried to process this. I shook my head. "I guess I just don't understand."

He took at deep breath, and his eyes bored into mine.

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's sprit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. "

"Wow. That was beautiful. How did you come up with that?"

He shook his head. "That's a quote from the book."

"You memorized the book?" I questioned, almost disbelievingly. I'd never loved a book so much that I could quote it so reverently.

I'd never thought of Paul as deep, but here he was, baring his soul to me, and I was incredibly moved. I leaned in and touched my forehead to his.

"That is so amazing." His smile grew wide. He'd been afraid of my response. "Just promise me one thing."

"Hmm?"

"If you go, you'll make it back to me alive?" I asked seriously, meeting his eyes with intensity.

He nodded. "Don't worry. I couldn't be away from you that long. Plus I'd probably cheat."

I cocked my head to one side. "How could you cheat?"

"I can turn into a wolf remember? It's quite a bit easier to track down dinner when you're faster than anything else in the forest."

I laughed and pushed him back. If he did decide to go, it would make me feel infinitely better if I knew that he wouldn't starve to death. Even if he did consider it cheating, I didn't. Anything that kept him alive wasn't cheating.

The waitress came over and set our plates in front of us, and we dug in. I was hungrier than I thought, inhaling my sandwich almost as fast as Paul. I was done long before he was since he had enough food for a small army, so I sat and watched him eat. He was very interesting when he ate. He was completely focused on the food in front of him. The way he was shoveling it in you'd think he hadn't eaten in weeks.

As he downed half of his shake in one gulp, he glanced sideways at me and caught me staring. He set the glass down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. I was just watching you eat."

He just shrugged and went back to his onion rings.

He was finished much faster than I expected. I thought for sure he would have indigestion, but he assured me he wouldn't. I just shrugged. Must be nice to be a werewolf and be able to scarf all of that down without a bottle of pepto bismol to go with it. I could already feel my stomach acid rising. I pulled my Tums out of my purse and chewed a few. I hoped it would help.

After an extremely heated discussion over the bill it was decided that I would pay since he was the one whose gas was being used. I didn't think he liked to very much, but I was starting to enjoy that he couldn't say no to me when my mind was set on something.

We walked out of the diner hand in hand and found Seth leaning against Paul's truck, holding my backpack.

He held it out of me, and I took it, thanking him immensely. I looked around for his car and was confused when I didn't see one.

"How did you get here?" I asked.

Seth looked warily at Paul and just shrugged. Apparently he wanted me to think that he teleported or something. I wasn't going to worry about it. I had my bag now, that was all the mattered. I slid the bag onto my shoulder and started heading to my door when I felt something wet.

I pulled the bag down and found a huge wet mark around the top strap of the bag and what appeared to be teeth marks. I gasped.

"You had this in your mouth?" I accused.

Seth nodded. "Yeah, how else did you expect me to carry it? I think I would have looked a little weird if I had it on my back." He laughed and Paul joined in with him. Was I the only one that found this a little strange? Plus, I had wolf drool all over my bag. And I could tell already that the smell was not going to go away when it dried. Great. Now I was going to smell like werewolf saliva.

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><p>Paul:<p>

Rachel looked so beautiful sitting next to me in the truck. I hardly remembered to breathe. All I could do was look at her.

After we had been driving for a few miles my stomach started rumbling, and I knew I was going to pass out of I didn't eat soon. I hadn't eaten a full meal since breakfast yesterday. I was on the brink of starvation.

I asked Rachel if she wanted to stop for food, praying she was even the tiniest bit hungry. Thankfully she nodded, and I pulled off into the little diner on the opposite side of the road. As I pulled into the parking space Rachel gasped in horror.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I hoped it was nothing horrible. No suddenly-discovered reason why she couldn't date me. No recent realization that she absolutely had to go to grad school. No irrational need to eat anywhere but here. If it was any of those I would have been very unhappy.

"I left my backpack in my car. I need it. We have to turn around."

I stared into the diner, the dream of a full stomach fading quickly. I wanted to cry. How could I be so stupid to think that she had everything out of her car? It was going to take forever to drive back. We weren't going to have time to eat. I was going to have a hypoglycemic crisis. There had to be something I could do.

Suddenly, a light clicked on. I didn't need to drive her back. I could make someone bring it here. And I knew just who would be eager to do me a favor.

"Let's go eat." I started opening the door, pulling my phone out of my pocket. She started shaking her head and tried to keep me in the car. I pulled out of her reach and spoke again. "Let's go eat, and your bag will be here by the time we're finished."

She looked unsure, as if I were lying to her. When would she realize that I wasn't capable?

She took a deep breath and sighed. "Okay. But if my books aren't here, we are going back to La Push and I will be driving myself back."

I felt like she had just punched me. Did she really think that I needed to be punished so harshly? She really was a sadist. That would be the only way she could give me such a penalty. She was taking pleasure in my pain. It was a good thing that when it came to her I was a masochist.

Apparently I looked almost as depressed as I felt as she grabbed my hand. "I was just teasing," she admitted. "You know that I want you to come with me."

I wasn't sure if she was telling me the truth or just telling me what I wanted to hear. She leaned forward and kissed me then pushed her door open. As she slid out of her seat, she looked back over her shoulder and said, "Do whatever you need to do to get my bag here, then come inside and eat. I know you're hungry."

That thought made my stomach rumble once more. I watched as she sauntered into the diner and took a seat at the counter. I couldn't wait any longer. I needed food. I flipped my phone open and dialed Seth. He owed me. And I still owed him a broken nose. Maybe we could come to an agreement.

He answered it on the third ring. "Hello?" he asked tentatively.

"Why hello, Seth," I said sounding overly-friendly.

"Why are you calling?" He sounded wary. I heard a door open. Then another. I laughed.

"I'm not in your room Seth." He thought I was calling him before I jumped out and attacked him. He needed to give me more credit. I was more creative than that.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Then why are you calling me?"

"I needed you to go to Rachel's house, get her backpack out of her and bring it to me."

"Why would I do that?" he asked, adding an air of rudeness to his question. He had no room to be rude.

"If you do this, I will consider not breaking your nose for that stunt you pulled yesterday."

I heard a sharp intake of break before he answered. "Where are you again?"

I chuckled as I told him the name of the restaurant and told him he only had 45 minutes or my offer was off the table. He wouldn't need it. He was a fast little shit. He would probably be here in 20 minutes.

I ended the call and strode into the diner. I dropped my phone onto the counter. She looked at me inquisitively, and I promised her bag's arrival as I grabbed a menu.

I scanned it quickly and considered ordering one of everything. Everything sounded so good. When the waitress came to take our order I was mildly horrified when Rachel turned down the fries that came with her sandwich. Apparently she didn't want any vegetable that had more animal fat in it than a hamburger. I just shook my head. The lard they cooked it in was what made it good.

"I'll take her fries," I told the waitress. Then I took a deep breath, hoping to prepare her for my order. She didn't know what she was in for. "I'll take a hamburger with lettuce and tomato. I'd also like an order of chicken fingers with ranch on the side. A large order of fries," I continued.

"You're already getting her fries," the waitress informed me. Thank you Captain Obvious. If I only wanted her fries, would I have ordered more?

I just smiled at her. "Those aren't enough. Can I also get an order of onion rings, a chocolate shake, and…." I scanned the menu one last time. I needed something that was going to push me over the edge from fed to full. "I guess I'll take a ham and cheese melt, too." The waitress raised her eyebrows at Rachel, as if asking if I had recently escaped from a mental hospital. I wished I could have seen the look on her face if I had been allowed to tell her the truth about why I was so hungry. It would have been priceless.

Rachel laughed. "What?" I asked. How big of a pig did she think I was?

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just pretty sure the waitress thinks you're on drugs."

I was confused. What would my order a lot of food have to do with drugs? Don't most drugs suppress your appetite?

"And why would I be on drugs?"

She laughed again. "Because you're eating like you have serious case of the munchies."

Aah. The munchies. Of course. How could I forget about the one drug side effect I would welcome with open arms? I chuckled to myself at the thought of how bad I would get the munching if I ever decided to get stoned. That would be a sight to behold.

"I should bring all the guys up here. They'd probably call the cops on us." I would love to see that. They'd bring their drug sniffing dogs who would be scared shitless of us even when we were in human form. I don't think you can convict just because the narc dogs won't go near the suspects. God, that would be hilarious.

My smile slowly faded into a smirk as I stared at Rachel. She was staring back at me, and I took her hand in mine. I squeezed it and she smiled. I loved her so much it hurt.

I leaned forward to kiss her but she turned her head. My lips met her cheek instead. She didn't like public displays of affection, I could tell. I would have to give her time to work up to it because I knew that I couldn't go my entire life without kissing her in public. It would be far too much for me to try to endure.

"Tell me something interesting," she said as she rubbed her thumb over my hand.

"Like what?" I questioned.

She just shrugged. "I don't know. Something about you that I don't know yet."

I had no idea what she wanted to know. Did she want to hear about my parents? Siblings? My life goals? What? I had couldn't come up with anything. Finally I settled on the one thing that the guys were sick of hearing me talk/think about.

"I've always wanted to go to Alaska and live off the land for awhile," I informed her.

She looked confused. This was obviously not the information she had been looking for. I didn't care though. This defined me more than any discussion of my blood relatives ever could.

"Really? Why?"

I leaned forward and squeezed her hand. "Have you ever seen Into the Wild?" I asked.

She nodded slowly, skeptically. Obviously she didn't appreciate it the way I did. That was okay. Most people didn't.

"I want to do something like that," I told her. "There's something very noble about what he did. To give up everything and try to make it all on his own. He wasn't going to take the comfortable road and do what people expected of him. He did what he wanted and I admire him."

She shook her head from side to side a little. "I guess I just don't understand."

I breathed deeply and considered my response. I gazed into her eyes intensely as I quoted the words of Chris McCandless.

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." I loved this quote so much that I had made the effort to memorize it. It was like the words had come directly from my head, though slightly more eloquent.

Rachel blinked, surprised by my sudden recitation. "Wow. That was beautiful. How did you come up with that?"

I was happy that she thought it was all me. I loved that she thought I was smart enough to be able to see how the world worked and articulate it so fully. I wished I could take credit for it.

I shook my head. "That's a quote from the book."

She looked shocked. "You memorized the book?"

I searched her face wondering if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I hoped that she didn't think I was some kind of crazed fan-boy just because I related well to a book. She leaned forward, bringing our foreheads together.

"That is so amazing," she said with a smile. I grinned, glad that she didn't think I was crazy. "Just promise me one thing."

I nodded, urging her on.

"If you go, you'll make it back to me alive?" she requested.

I was momentarily stunned. She thought I wanted to get away more than I wanted to be with her. That couldn't have been further from the truth. But I understood her concern. Chris McCandless starved to death while he was living on his own in the Alaskan wilderness. I had to assure her that I was in no danger.

"Don't worry. I couldn't be away from you for that long. Plus I'd probably cheat."

"How could you cheat?"

I chuckled. "I can turn into a wolf remember? It's quite a bit easier to track down dinner when you're faster than anything else in the forest."

She laughed and shoved me back as the waitress brought our food over.

As she set the plates in front of me, I started counting entrees to make sure they were all present. I was marginally concerned when I didn't immediately see my onion rings. I looked at her questioningly but she just held a finger up in an effort to tell me to wait a minute. She cleared her arms of the plates she was currently holding, and I took stock of her small frame. She had wedged every plate she could on both arms, and I silently thanked her for deciding to make two trips. If she had attempted to carry it in one there was a distinct possibility that my food would have ended up on the floor. And it wouldn't have reflected well on Rachel when I bent down to eat it anyway.

I started eating slower than I normally would have, not wanting to make Rachel feel awkward if I finished too much before her. Thankfully she ate her sandwich fairly quickly and was actually finished before I was.

She stared at me as I ate my ham and cheese melt. I was starting to get uncomfortable. She must have thought I was absolutely porcine. But unfortunately there was nothing I could do about my appetite. It came with the territory. The same territory that brought me to her. There were werewolf perks all around.

I started downing my shake, and her gaze intensified. She leaned closer, apparently mesmerized by my ability to chug a milkshake. I finished and wiped my mouth with my hand before I turned and asked, "What?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. I was just watching you eat."

I didn't worry about it as I turned back to my onion rings. I saved the best for last. I savored them as much as I could stand to while still shoveling them in hand over fist. I finished them and moved my fist to my chest as a small belch came up. I rubbed my chest and did my best to keep the noise reined in. It wouldn't be proper to let it go in public like I did with the pack. And it would probably scare the hell out of Rachel.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a packing of Tums, popping a few. I shook my head and chuckled.

"Eating all of that really isn't going to make you sick?" she asked curiously.

"Food is food. As long as I'm full my body doesn't really care where it comes from."

She just shook her head. "Must be nice," she grumbled.

The waitress walked over and set the check in front of me. I reached into my pocket to pull out my wallet and was startled to find the check was no longer in front of me when I looked back up.

Rachel was twirling the piece of paper between her fingers as she fished her wallet from her purse.

"What do you think you're doing?" I questioned.

"Paying the bill," she replied nonchalantly.

"Like hell you are." I lunged for the slip but she pulled it away. I could have forcibly taken it from her, but I had a feeling that would not have gone over well.

"I'm paying it and that's final." She looked unwilling to budge.

"Why should I allow that?" I asked.

"Because you love me," she said, batting her eyelashes at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her. She knew I couldn't say no to her and she was already using it to her advantage. She was a sadist, I could tell. But, when it came to her, I was the biggest masochist in the world.

She smirked at me and rolled her eyes playfully. "I'll make you a deal," she suggested.

I nodded for her to continue, waiting for hear what she had to offer.

"We're taking your truck and using your gas to get there, right?" I nodded again, not liking where this was headed. "So if you're keeping me from having to buy gas for the trip, the least you can let me do is buy you lunch."

I pursed my lips but nodded once again. I hated that she was paying for my food, but I knew there was nothing I could do once she set her mind to it. I was at her beck and call. Not that I minded. When I looked at her, with her hair hanging over her face as she figured out the tip, there was nothing in the world I wanted more than to make her happy. And if paying the bill would make her happy, who was I to deny her?

She laid the money out on the counter and we headed out. I held the door open for her, and she met my eyes with a smile and grabbed my hand, lacing my fingers with hers. I couldn't take my eyes off of her and didn't move my gaze to Seth until we were practically right in front of him.

He held his arm out to Rachel, handing her the backpack with a look of boredom on his face.

"Thank you so much!" she said, looking relieved. I'd told her it was going to be here. Did she really doubt me?

"No problem," he replied. "Happy to do it." He looked into my eyes purposefully, wanting to know if this was the last hoop I was going to make him jump through. I nodded slowly, knowing that I could only entertain myself like this for so long before it started to get boring.

Rachel turned her gaze from her bag back to Seth.

"How did you get here?"

Seth gave me a nervous look, concerned that I hadn't told Rachel about being wolves yet. He just shrugged at her and while she was annoyed she seemed to accept it.

She was about to sling it over her shoulder when something caught her eye. I saw her inspecting the strap and suppressed a groan.

"You had this in your mouth?" she said shrilly.

Seth looked almost offended as he answered. "How else did you expect me to carry it? I think I would have looked a little weird if I had it on my back."

I started laughing at the mental picture. It would be kind of amusing to see that. A werewolf on his was to school. It sounded like a sick children's story to me. I was still grinning when Rachel looked at me. I was silenced with one look. Apparently it's not appropriate to carry a backpack in your mouth while phased. I had a feeling I would be hearing about it the entire way back.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks again for reading. Paul's up first this week and things get a little dramatic. Don't worry though, our favorite couple knows how to get things back on track.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. If I did there would be a lot more werewolves and a lot fewer vampires.**

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><p>Paul:<p>

I was so royally fucked. Rachel was really pissed about the backpack. Really pissed. She'd been staring out the window for at least fifteen minutes, and I was about to go insane. Completely insane. Her breathing was quickened and her heart rate was above normal. I was waiting for her to go off the deep end. She had been seething when she got in the car, but had been absolutely silent. Rachel was not a silent girl. This wasn't going to be good when the silence ended.

I heard her intake of breath before she began speaking and prepared myself for the worst.

"I'm sorry," she apologized suddenly. "I overreacted.

I just shook my head. "No, it was my fault. I should have made sure Seth knew that it wasn't okay to carry it like that. I'll buy you a new bag if you want," I offered, knowing I would do anything to set this right.

This time, she shook her head. "No, Paul. It's not your fault. You did what you needed to get my bag to me, and I was an ungrateful whiny bitch about it. And you definitely don't have to buy me a new bag. I'll run it through the wash once at school, and it will be just fine."

Once? To get rid of werewolf drool? Unlikely. "It will probably take more than one time through," I informed her, hoping not to upset her again.

She sighed, but didn't seem angry, just resigned. Things got quiet again, though not quite as awkward as it had been previously. It was probably because I knew she wasn't preparing her words to yell at me. I was more than willing to give her space to think as long as she wasn't thinking of ways to break up with me. That kind of though must be avoided at all costs.

"What's your favorite color?" she asked out of the blue. I had no idea where this had come from but if she was talking, I wasn't going to tell her to stop.

"Umm, green?" I answered.

"Listen, Paul. I - " she started, but was cut off when her phone started ringing.

She pulled the phone out, and her shoulders dropped when she saw the name on the screen. This wasn't going to go well. Just hoped it wasn't Katie.

"Hey, Becca," she said quietly, giving me an apologetic look. At least it wasn't her wacko roommate. I didn't want her to start crying again. She'd done far too much crying the last few days. But Becca was different. Maybe she could even help her feel better.

She paused for a second, listening to Becca speak. "Sorry, Bex. I should have called. But you were right, going home was the right thing to do," she said, looking at me with a smile. I smiled at her and her grin widened. She was so beautiful. Then the conversation continued.

"Well, you know how Jake was in love with Charlie Swan's daughter? Apparently, she just married someone else! And she's only eighteen!" While Rachel was gossiping about the bloodsuckers, I realized I'd never told her the whole story. I'd informed her that, yes, vampires were real, but I didn't quite get in that there were some living very close by. And that Bella Swan had just married one of them. That would be an interesting conversation. I wasn't quite sure how she was going to take that.

Rachel groaned in response to something Becca said. "Don't you dare start telling me about your sex life with your husband again," she said. Apparently Becca was an oversharer. Rach was just going to have to get used to it. I was going to unintentionally overshare everything the next time I phased. Oops, I should probably mention the whole mind-reading thing to her too. Yeah, she was going to be really unhappy about that one.

Then Rachel continued, "I may vomit, and I don't want to mess up Paul's truck."

She'd mentioned me, and while that made me ridiculously happy, I also knew it wasn't the way she wanted to tell her sister about me. I was starting to learn quickly that she had a pretty severe case of verbal diarrhea. I didn't mind so much since she seemed to love giving me information I wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but in this instance I had a feeling it wasn't going to work out in her favor.

Then I heard her whisper the two great words I'd ever heard. "My boyfriend." Yes, I was her boyfriend, she was my girlfriend, and we were in love. God, could my life get any better? I moved my hand over to rest on her leg, attempting to share just how much I loved her.

"We've known him forever. It's Jake's friend Paul," she explained. I knew that Rachel didn't really remember me from when we were younger (thank god because my awkward phase was pretty rough), but Becca probably would. She was a lot more social than Rach. Not in a bad way, just more outgoing and needing to be in everyone's business. With that came the necessity of knowing everyone.

"Yep, that's him," Rachel said, looking at me with her lips curled up into a smile.

The smile faded quickly. "What can't you believe?" Becca spoke for a few seconds then Rachel looked like she was going to kill someone. "What? No! First of all, I haven't hopped into bed with anyone. And secondly, how dare you accuse me of something like that? I met a guy that I like, who likes me back, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Katie. And if you're going to toss out ridiculous stuff like that, I'm hanging up."

Rachel hung up the phone and turned it off. I could tell it was all she could do to hold herself together right. Hadn't I just thought a few minutes ago that I didn't want to see her crying anymore? This was starting to get ridiculous. I knew she wasn't one of those girls that broke down into tears over every little thing. Her tears were real. They meant something. They meant that she was really hurting and one of the few people she thought she could count on had put them there. I hated Becca at that moment. I knew it wouldn't last because she was Rach's sister and they would work things out. They were too close not to, but right now Becca was at the top of my shit list.

Rachel's tears weren't stopping anytime soon, so I pulled the truck over and held her in my arms again. I would never get tired of this feeling. If I could bring comfort to her, everything was alright. I held her tight, stroking her hair and trying to keep new rounds of sobs away.

"This is so fucked up," she gasped out. I agreed. Anytime she cried was completely fucked up in my opinion.

"I'm sorry," I apologized, hoping to get her start feeling better.

She apologized too. "I'm sorry," she said, burying her face in my shoulder.

"Wait, what are you apologizing for?" I asked, concerned. She had nothing to be sorry for.

"I'm sorry that you're seeing me cry. . . .again," she said while wiping her nose on my sleeve. Before my imprint, if a girl had done that to me, I would have been disgusted, now with Rachel, I'm happy to oblige.

"You're hurting. Of course you're going to cry. It's a normal human response."

She laughed quietly. "And all this time I've been convinced I don't have normal human emotions."

I smiled as he pushed my hair back from my face. I really hoped she was done crying. Those tear streaks down her cheeks were not my favorite attribute on her.

I asked if she wanted to talk about it, but all she wanted was for me to hold her for a few more minutes. My pleasure.

She pressed a kiss to my neck, and at first I thought it was just going to be a quick peck before settling back to our embrace, but when her lips lingered and I felt her hot breath on my skin, I couldn't hold back.

I pulled her face up to meet mine and kissed her with all the pent up emotions of the last few minutes. That was a lot of emotions to be put into one kiss. From the little gasping noise she made, I didn't think she minded.

* * *

><p>Rachel:<p>

I tried not to be angry about the backpack. I really did. But I really liked the bag, and now it really smelled like shit.

I didn't want to hold it over Paul's head. I knew that it wasn't his fault. He was the one who made sure I got the bag. I should have been thanking him.

I shook my head at myself as I got back into the passenger seat of Paul's truck. I hadn't said another word, knowing I needed to consider the things that came out of my mouth before I let them fly. I had been hot and cold all day, but I didn't know how else to react.

I had no idea how to go about this relationship stuff, and him being unconditionally in love with me didn't really help matters much. I knew that being a bitch about the bag was not helping the situation at all. But I also knew that no matter what I did, he wasn't walking away. I hated that imprinting basically gave me permission to be the biggest bitch imaginable with no consequences. I didn't want to act like that. I wanted Paul to love me because he wanted to, not because he had to. And I wanted to be able to love him back for who he was, not just because he treated me well. I wanted to be able to argue and fight, and act like the normal couple I knew we could never be.

I knew that as time went on we would settle into our routine and find what worked for us, but I'd always been impatient. I wanted things figured out now. Unfortunately, it wasn't something that could just be decided. We would need to spend time together and learn about each other. Just because we were in love didn't mean that we were truly a couple in every sense of the word. I barely knew anything about him.

The only things I knew about him were basic. He was a year younger than me. He was a werewolf. His name was Paul . . . Umm. Shit. I didn't even know his fucking last name! Fuck!

I didn't know anything about this guy, like seriously nothing at all. I didn't know his last name, where he lived, who his friends were outside of the pack. I didn't know his favorite food, what he did for a living before he was a wolf, or what he wanted to do later on.

What bothered me the most was that in spite of all of this 'not knowing', I still felt sure of my feelings for Paul. Okay, I guess it didn't _bother_ me. It was just a little disconcerting to realize that everything I ever believed about falling in love was completely untrue.

I always thought that when I fell in love, it would be a long build-up. I would meet a guy, we would date for a while, we would start spending more and more time together, realizing that there was nothing either of us wanted more than spending time together. Then eventually without realizing it, love would sneak up on me. But that's not quite the way things happened.

Love still sure as hell snuck up on me though.

I glanced to the side and saw Paul watching me more than he was watching the road. Again. I couldn't say that I minded at all. The look on his face was not quite what I was expecting though. He was worried that I was mad at him. I could read it all over his face.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I overreacted."

He shook his head. "No, it was my fault. I should have made sure Seth knew that it wasn't okay to carry it like that. I'll buy you a new bag if you want," he offered.

It was my turn to shake my head. "No, Paul. It's not your fault. You did what you needed to get my bag to me, and I was an ungrateful whiny bitch about it. And you definitely don't have to buy me a new bag. I'll run it through the wash once at school and it will be just fine."

He gave me a regretful look and bit his lip. "It will probably take more than one time through," he shared.

I sighed but didn't let it get to me. It wasn't a big deal. It was just a bag, and even if it did need to be replaced, I could more than afford to do it myself.

Also, I had more important fish to fry, like finding out anything about him, so I didn't feel quite so much like I was riding with a stranger. A stranger I was in love with. A stranger who was also a werewolf. God, this was a soap opera waiting to happen. Phases of Our Lives.

Now, I just needed to figure out how to get to know him. I'd known for quite a long time I wasn't very good at getting to know people. It stemmed entirely from not ever having to get to know people in my youth. I knew everyone's life story until I graduated from high school. I could tell you everyone's first, middle, and last name, their birthdate, and their drink of choice. Even the people I didn't like, I still knew everything about. One of the perils of growing up in a small town. I didn't find the information myself, it was all given to me through the gossip grapevine, or information moving so slowly among people that it could barely be considered new knowledge at all.

Finally I decided to go with the obvious.

"What's your favorite color?" I blurted.

He looked at me with his eyebrows drawn together, obviously taken aback by my random question.

"Umm, green?" he offered tentatively. He still thought I was upset about the backpack so he was treading lightly. I needed to figure out a way to assure him that I wasn't as pissed as I'd originally appeared.

"Listen, Paul. I -" I was cut off by the ringing of my phone.

I reached into my backpack and pulled it out. The name "Becca" was on the screen and I immediately felt ashamed that I hadn't called her in two days. Especially after the state I'd been in the last time I talked to her. She was probably worried sick about me.

"Hey, Becca," I answered warily.

"Well, hello there, twin. I see you're still alive, despite the fact that you haven't called me in two days." I could tell she wasn't really upset, just more confused that I hadn't been leaning on her for support like I usually did. She probably thought I was incredibly depressed and not able to talk about things yet. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was relying on someone else for emotional support.

"Sorry, Bex. I should have called. But you were right, going home was the right thing to do," I said with a glance at Paul. He smiled at me and I couldn't stop myself from smiling back.

"That's good," Becca replied. "I'm glad Dad and Jake kept you occupied. What's the new gossip?"

Becca was a gossip hound. As much as I enjoyed people giving me the dirt on everyone else, Becca was the one who actively sought it out. Since she'd moved away she didn't have any real source of information anymore and she was not happy with how little I snooped whenever I was home. Thankfully, I had some information for her that should would find very interesting.

"Well, you know how Jake was in love with Charlie Swan's daughter? Apparently she just married someone else! And she's only eighteen!"

"Hey! I was only eighteen when I got married!" Becca protested. "But seriously? She was all Jake could go on about for months? How's he taking it?"

"I don't know. He didn't really want to talk about it, but he seemed pretty upset when he told me about it. I think it's going some time for him to get over it. You know how it is with first loves."

Becca laughed. "You know I do."

I groaned and closed my eyes. "Becca, don't you dare start telling me about your sex life with your husband again. I may vomit, and I don't want to mess up Paul's truck."

Becca silenced mid-laugh. "Paul? Who's Paul?"

I mentally berated myself for my slip of tongue. Why did I never think before I spoke? This was going to be hard enough to explain without me blowing it with my big mouth.

"My boyfriend," I said quietly, knowing I shouldn't lie. It would only make things worse for me with Becca later, and worse for me with Paul right now.

I felt Paul's hand rest on my leg and squeeze for moral support.

"Since when do you have a boyfriend?"

"Umm, since about an hour ago, I guess," I informed her.

"An hour? How long have you known this guy?"

"Well . . ." I started off slowly, trying to think of where to begin. "He's from the rez and I met him again on when I came home. But I've known him forever. _We've_ known him forever," I clarified. "It's Jake's friend Paul."

"Jake's friend Paul," Becca said slowly, trying the words out like they were in a different language. "Paul Singer?"

Yes! His last name is Singer. Thank fuck I don't have to ask him that later. Or worse, get caught going through his wallet trying to find his ID.

"Yeah, that's him."

"I can't believe you, Rach."

"What can't you believe?" I asked in confusion.

"I can't believe you went home depressed, and hopped in bed with the first guy you came across," she accused.

"What? No! First of all, I haven't _hopped into bed_ with anyone. And secondly, how dare you accuse me of something like that? I met a guy that I like, who likes me back, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Katie. And if you're going to toss out ridiculous stuff like that, I'm hanging up."

And I did. I hit the red button to end the call then held it down to turn the phone off. I tried hard to hold back the tears, but I was fighting a losing battle. As soon as Paul realized how upset I was, he pulled the truck to the side of the road for the second time today to allow me to cry. This was starting to get old fast.

He slid across the seat and wrapped his arms around me, pushing my face into his shoulder as I cried. He stroked my hair to soothe me and held me tighter if I got particularly loud.

"This. Is. So. Fucked. Up," I gasped between sobs. I was referring more to Paul having to see my cry again, than with my fight with Becca. Yeah, she said some shitty things, but we always work things out. I'm pissed as shit at her now, but it's not worth crying over. We fought on a fairly regular basis, and though this was a big one, I knew it wasn't too big to get over. I'd caught her off guard, mentioning Paul, and she said the first thing that came to mind. She'd always had a problem with word vomit.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

We both apologized at the same time.

"Wait, what are you apologizing for?" Paul asked me, his eyes laced with concern, probably convinced that I was going insane.

"I'm sorry that you're seeing me cry. . . .again," I replied, sniffing and wiping my nose on my sleeve.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Seriously? You're hurting. Of course you're going to cry. It's a normal human response."

I barked out a small laugh. "And all this time I've been convinced I didn't have normal human emotions."

He reached his hand up and smoothed back the hair that had been clinging to my face. He gave me an encouraging smile and I knew I was done crying for the day.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

I shook my head and wrinkled my nose. "Naw, I think I just want to sit here with you a few more minutes before we start again."

"That's just fine with me," he replied, tightening his grip around me.

I pressed a kiss to his neck and lingered there for a second, just breathing in his scent.

And just like that he pulled my chin up and was kissing the shit out of me.

Not that I was complaining.


End file.
